


Bound

by Nyacchan



Category: BUCK-TICK, Der Zibet (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Blood, Knives, M/M, Oral Sex, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:01:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 33,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26746309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nyacchan/pseuds/Nyacchan
Summary: A story taking place in an alternate universe, one with secrets yet to be discovered.
Relationships: Issay (Der Zibet)/Sakurai Atsushi
Comments: 12
Kudos: 13





	1. Night out.

It was late in the evening, the last day of the tour had reached its end as the band decided to have a drink at the local bar. They had just finished their last show, which was, much to their approval, held close to home. As they had just ordered their drinks and sat down at an empty table, they were soon greeted by a familiar voice.

“Hello there,” Issay greeted as he walked up to the group, a drink present in his hand, “I watched the show just now, it was good.”

The five men each thanked him for his compliment as Atsushi invited him to join them, and so Issay did, sitting down in the empty chair next to Atsushi. It was not much of a surprise that Issay had come to watch the show, whenever they played nearby and Issay had time, he would come to watch. The other members of Der Zibet often joined him in that, yet it seemed like Issay had come alone this time.

“So, is it a coincidence that you found us here, or were you stalking us?” Atsushi asked jokingly.

“Ah yes, I followed you guys all the way here, that is how much of a crazy fan I am,” Issay returned laughing, the rest of the group just laughed along. “No, after the show ended I just wanted to get a drink, I then saw you all and decided to say hi.”

“Oh? So you were about to drink on your own?” Yuta then asked.

“Yes, I have asked everyone in the band to join me tonight, yet none of them had time.”

“So you come to our show alone, then want to go have a drink, and you don’t even come to ask us to join you?” Atsushi asked, almost sounding offended.

“Well I…” Issay started, thinking for a moment as he swirled the drink in his hand, “don’t have a good excuse,” he added as he took a sip.

“Oh, don’t like us enough?” Atsushi then asked, taking a sip of his own drink as well.

“No no no that is not the reason at all!”

“He’s just playing around with you,” Hide interrupted, he could see Atsushi’s held back smile behind his glass.

“Hm, but still, maybe I should have asked, I just didn’t want to interrupt, thought you might have wanted rest actually,” Issay then added as he put his glass down.

“You don’t need to worry about that, it’s not like you are that energy consuming,” Toll mentioned with a smile, it was never a problem for any of them to have Issay around.

“Indeed, you can always come backstage to our room, you can always ask,” Yuta agreed, soon followed by agreements from the rest of the group.

“I shall remember that then. Well, in the end we all ended up here anyway.”

“Indeed, fate brought us all together in the end, you were meant to drink with us,” Atsushi replied, causing a smile to appear on everyone's faces.

“Guess I’ll never be able to escape you then,” Issay quietly spoke as he took another sip and looked away to prevent himself from laughing.

“Hey!” Atsushi returned as he hit Issay on the arm. At that Issay could not keep his laughter anymore and had to prevent himself from choking on his drink. The rest of the group just laughed along to it.

“Just kidding of course, if I really tried to avoid you I would not have said hi and joined you,” Issay then clarified, making sure no one was offended in any way. The rest of the men just smiled at him in reply as they drank. They kept up a casual conversation, talking about anything that came to mind, and they soon found themselves with empty glasses.

“Shall I go get another round?” Atsushi asked, to which he received five approving answers. “Alright, I’ll order something to eat with it as well,” he then added, he was hungry from the show and imagined the rest of the band would be too. They had eaten a light dinner before the show, yet did not eat too much as they did not want it to be troublesome as they performed.

Atsushi soon returned to the table, a waiter with a plate in his hand followed after him. As Atsushi sat down again, the man switched the empty glasses with six new ones and informed the group that their food would arrive soon. As the conversation progressed it did indeed not take long before several snacks were placed onto their table, yet it took long enough for everyone to empty their glasses, and thus they ordered again.

As the band ate and drank while keeping up the conversations, it soon stood out that only Issay was not touching the food. It was not weird as it was already late and Issay had probably had a normal dinner, unlike the rest of the group, yet they had expected he would at least eat something, even if it would not be much.

“Don’t you want anything?” Atsushi decided to ask.

“Ah no, I’m not hungry, and I don’t want to end up with a stomach ache tonight,” Issay replied with a small smile on his face. The group did not mind it, in the end it just meant that there was more for them.

After a few hours of eating, drinking and talking, Atsushi stood up from the table. “I’m going for a quick smoke,” he said as he grabbed his pack of cigarettes, withdrew a stick, and walked outside. It was not allowed to smoke inside of the building after all. The rest of the group decided to stay at the table, they still had a drink they wanted to finish first, and they did not want to rush.

It was already past midnight now and most of the men were somewhat drunk at this point. Atsushi, who had just walked outside, was still doing alright. Toll and Hide were only slightly drunk, Yuta was already getting there, Imai was completely wasted and Issay still acted like he had not drank a single drop of alcohol, which was impressive as he drank as much as the rest yet was the only one who was not eating.

After about fifteen minutes, Atsushi had still not returned, it was odd, he normally worked up his cigarettes remotely quickly. Yet the band did not seem to be worried, Imai was far too drunk to care and Toll, Yuta and Hide were sure he was just enjoying the outside air for a bit. Yet Issay could not help but feel like something was not right.

Issay quickly finished the last of his drink before he stood up. “Well, I could go for a smoke myself as well,” he said as he walked towards the exit. Yet once outside, he did not see Atsushi anywhere, the streets were quiet, it was a week day after all so the streets were more empty at this time of night.

As Issay wondered where Atsushi could be, he suddenly heard a scream coming from the nearby forest, that sounded like Atsushi. Issay ran towards the location of the noise as fast as he could, yet as he was almost there, an odd smell caught his attention, something wasn’t right.

Once Issay had reached the source of the noise, he found Atsushi lying on the ground, and Issay now realized what that smell was, it was the blood that was flowing out of the younger man’s body. As Atsushi pressed one of his hands against his chest, supposedly where the wound was, three men stood around him, and they were not there to help.

The men noticed Issay’s presence as the forest’s leaves and twigs had snapped underneath his running feet, and they did not look like they were up for a friendly conversation. Issay wasted no time, he immediately ran up to Atsushi, he was still conscious, but that might not stay like that for long as the red puddle underneath him kept growing larger.

As Issay had come closer he now also noticed another smell, a sour stench which could not be mistaken. And it became undeniable as the younger man’s pants grew wet, the urine flowing through the fabric, and three drunk bastards just laughing as they saw it. That behaviour just made Issay more angry.

“Keep pressing on that wound as long as you can Atsushi-kun, try to stay awake,” Issay said as he stood between Atsushi and the three men. He wanted to get his friend out of there, but he first needed to make these three leave. Issay had expected them to run off once he got near, yet they did not seem to be afraid of him in any way.

“You gonna keep standing there?! I would run if I were you! Unless you have a death wish!” Issay shouted, he had no choice but to threaten them, and maybe the noise would attract more people who could help.

“What? Are we supposed to be scared of a living stick figure like you? Fuck off man, unless you want to join your little friend over there,” one of the men returned, laughing as he spoke. Issay knew that his appearance was not very threatening, and when there were three against one, the unknown men had an advantage on him, a big one.

“Issay, run,” Atsushi managed to say, he did not want Issay to end up the same way.

“I’m not leaving, you don’t have to worry about me, just try to stay awake,” Issay replied, not looking away from the three men. He knew that if he would leave now he would never get help in time and Atsushi would not survive this, he was not going to let that happen.

“Aw look at that, twigs wants to play the hero as well,” that same man as before said, still laughing. Issay could not understand his word choice, ‘as well’? “Well fine then, I’ll give you your heroic death, let’s dance.” the man then added as he took one step towards Issay.

“No, run!” Atsushi said again as he saw the man grab his knife, approaching Issay. It was the same knife Atsushi had been stabbed with before, his blood had stained the blade.

“Shut up, just try to keep that blood inside of your body!” Issay returned, he had to stay focused. Atsushi could not understand Issay’s reaction, he was skinny and did not seem to be that strong, his appearance was anything but threatening, this could never end well.

As the man walked up to Issay, the other two stayed back and just watched, laughing just as stupidly as before. The man swung his knife towards Issay once he was close enough to do so, yet Issay’s quick reflexes caused him to evade and he immediately grabbed the man by his throat, slamming his head into a nearby tree as hard as he could, causing the man to pass out, Issay then let him drop the floor. That barely took a second, one down, two more to go.

The two remaining men just stood there, surprised, they could not believe what they had just seen, nor how fast it went. “What? Is it suddenly not funny anymore?” Issay asked, quickly checking up on Atsushi as he got the chance to do so. Atsushi too could not believe his eyes, that was clear in his facial expression, in the way he just stared at the man who had hit the floor.

Atsushi did not look too good, his bodily fluids were disappearing into the dirt, yet despite that, Issay knew that he had lost a lot of blood. Atsushi was pale and he started to have trouble breathing, besides that, the pressure he applied to his wound seemed to only grow weaker as well. Issay knew he had to hurry, aiming his gaze at the two remaining men, he spoke, “who wants to be next?”

The two men looked at each other for a second, then grabbed their own knives and walked up to Issay together, they were sure that as long as it was not a one against one fight, they would be able to win. Issay was not happy with it, he had hoped the two would run off so he could give Atsushi all the attention he needed, yet it seemed like his friend would have to hold on just a little longer.

As the two got closer to Issay, he took a big risk by quickly reaching for both their throats at once as he pushed them both onto the ground. Issay had hoped that the fall on their heads would knock them unconscious, and for one of them that was indeed the case, yet the other one still seemed alright.

Before Issay could bring his second hand to the last remaining man as well, he got stabbed in his side, and Atsushi could do nothing but watch as it happened, he could not even get a single word out. At the sight of that knife eating into Issay’s skin, Atsushi started to lose his vision, drifting into unconsciousness.

Unable to see anything, unable to feel anything, Atsushi had lost all control over his senses. He could not feel the ground underneath his body, it was as if he was floating in darkness. The only thing he could still do was listen, yet all he could hear were distant noises, grunts, far away screams. The last thing he managed to hear was Issay’s distant voice calling out his name before he entered a void.


	2. Awakening.

As Atsushi opened his eyes, he found himself in a dark room. There was just enough light to be able to see, yet his vision was blurry and his entire body hurt. Looking around him, he could not recognize the room he was in, he was not at his own home. Atsushi started to take in the details, seeing if he could recognize anything. He was lying on the floor, on a futon, there was another futon in the room yet he seemed to be alone at the moment.

He then looked over at the tube that was connected to his arm, an IV. On the other end there was some sort of liquid being pumped into his body. There were also tubes going into his nostrils, giving him oxygen, as well as a device on his finger, connected to a machine that seemed to monitor his heartbeat.

Just how long had he been asleep? And where was he? Despite the equipment, this room did not look like a hospital room, it did not even have windows and not a single light was on, the only light that illuminated this room was the little bits of light that came from these machines. 

Atsushi now decided to pull the blankets off of himself, seeing how his chest and one of his underarms were covered by fresh bandages. He now remembered what had happened, he was stabbed and lost his consciousness. But if that was it, then he should be in a hospital right now, so what was this place? And what was the reason for the bandage around his arm? He does not remember any injury there.

As Atsushi sat up and tried to move, he now felt something at his leg, and as he removed the covers more to take a look, he noticed the metal cuff around his ankle. A metal chain connected it to a metal pole in the middle of the room, and Atsushi was tied to it. Besides this, Atsushi was also almost completely naked, besides the diaper that had been put around his hips.

As the situation only seemed to get weirder and weirder, the shock caused Atsushi to try to stand up, ignoring all signs his body gave him that told him to stay down. He could, however, hardly get onto his knees before he lost his balance and fell down onto the futon, his body was not ready to get up yet.

Thinking hard about what had happened again, Atsushi now remembered that Issay had tried to help him, yet eventually ended up being stabbed as well. Was he even alive? Atsushi honestly did not want to consider the possibility of his friend being dead, yet he had a bad feeling about it.

But considering the possibility that Issay was unable to help, how did Atsushi end up in this weird place? Who brought him here? Were it those three men? Whoever it was, Atsushi did not expect them to have brought him here with any good intentions considering the cuff around his ankle. As Atsushi was now sitting up again, he started to fidget with the metal cuff, trying to get it off, yet after several seconds he realized that it was a hopeless task.

Another few minutes passed in which Atsushi tried to find a way to get that cuff off of his ankle, or to at least get the chain loose. The sound of a door opening and closing then soon filled the room, footsteps descended from the stairs and caused Atsushi to be overwhelmed by a feeling of dread. Frozen in place, he looked around for anything he could use to defend himself, yet there was nothing.

The tall figure descended further and entered the room, and as they turned on a light, Atsushi noticed that it was Issay. Atsushi’s fear was quickly replaced by a sense of relief as he had no reason to be afraid of Issay, yet he still felt like something was wrong. Realizing that Atsushi had woken up, Issay placed the bucket he was carrying down onto the floor before running up to him.

Dropping down onto his knees, Issay wrapped his arms around Atsushi, “you are finally awake.”

“What’s going on?” Atsushi asked as he held Issay, who started to sob onto his shoulder.

“You almost died,” Issay returned, holding on tight to his friend, unwilling to let him go.

“Where are we? What is this place?” Atsushi then asked, he had so many questions that he wanted answers to.

“This is my basement, we are underneath my house,” Issay explained, now finally releasing Atsushi from his grip to look him into his eyes. A big smile was present on the older man’s face along with wet eyes and tear stained cheeks, he was truly happy to see his friend awake.

“Your house? But, all these medical equipment?” Atsushi started, now even more confused than before.

“I have gone through a medical study when I was younger, do not worry I know what I am doing,” Issay replied, trying to assure him as he wiped his own tears away, trying to calm himself.

“But, if I need all of this, then why am I not at an actual hospital?” Atsushi then asked, starting to panic slightly.

“Calm down, calm down, you should be lying down, your body needs to rest,” Issay returned as he gently pushed Atsushi back down, avoiding the question.

“What I need is answers, what is going on? Why am I not in a hospital?!” Atsushi tried again as he lay on his back.

“I will explain it to you later, you need to rest first,” Issay replied as he was about to stand up, yet Atsushi reached out and grabbed him by his arm, keeping him in place. His grip was not much as his body was still weak, Issay could have easily shaken him off but decided not to do so.

“You are not going to leave me here tied up to some fucking pole without giving me answers!” Atsushi then said, the fear was visible in his eyes.

“You have quite some energy already, I think we can actually get this off then, stay still for a minute,” Issay commented, still avoiding questions as he turned off the device that helped Atsushi to breathe. Seeing how Atsushi was indeed able to breathe on his own, Issay removed the tubes from the younger man’s nose.

As Atsushi was now awake and seemingly doing well, Issay decided to undo all the devices he had hooked up to Atsushi’s body, he no longer seemed to need them, leaving him with nothing but that cuff and chain connected to his leg. As the medical devices were now off, Issay stood up and put them all away, next he walked back to the bucket he had left near the stairs.

“What? Are you just going to leave this on?!” Atsushi shouted at him as he sat back up and shook his leg, causing the metal chain to tinkle.

“I have to, I’m sorry,” Issay simply replied as he picked up the bucket and walked back over to Atsushi.

“What are you talking about? I seriously ask you to explain this now!” Atsushi then said, quite frustrated. Yet, he then remembered something again, he had almost forgotten in this chaos. “Wait, Issay-san, you were stabbed too, weren’t you? Are you even alright?”

“Don’t worry about me, I’m fine, it was not a fatal wound,” Issay replied as he placed the bucket down near the futon. He then got back onto his knees as he undid the buttons of his button up shirt and showed Atsushi the scar on his side, it was already starting to fade.

“What? But, this is almost gone already,” Atsushi commented as he traced Issay’s scar with his finger, “how is that possible?”

“You have been asleep for quite a while,” Issay replied as he stood up again, grabbing a pair of scissors from a table before he returned to his friend, sitting down next to him once again.

“How long?” Atsushi asked as Issay cut the bandages off of him, revealing quite a big wound on his chest, it had healed but it did not look like a scar just yet, it was nothing like Issay’s injury. The scar on his arm looked somewhat like he had been bitten by something, yet that one was already quite faded, besides this he only had some fading bruises.

“A bit longer than a week,” Issay returned as he disposed of the old bandages.

“That is not enough time for a wound like that to heal,” Atsushi mentioned, Issay’s scar was far too faded to be only a week old.

“I heal fast, it’s just the way it is,” Issay replied dismissively.

Atsushi just shook his head at this, he felt like it was hopeless to keep asking about it. “Well, you still have not answered me,” he then said, he had not forgotten. Yet Issay ignored him as he grabbed a big towel and rolled Atsushi aside to place it on the futon, he then placed Atsushi on top of it. “Issay-san!”

“Okay!” Issay shouted back, startling Atsushi with the sudden snap, “okay… I’ll explain it when I’m done with this, okay?”

“Okay,” Atsushi returned softly, he had never seen Issay suddenly snap like that, it gave him quite a scare.

Issay started with cleaning Atsushi’s face, he then moved on to his chest, careful around the wound. Next his armpits, arms and hands, then his legs and feet. As that was eventually all done, Issay started to remove the diaper from Atsushi’s body, Atsushi suspected it was likely there as he was probably unable to control his body during the coma he had been in for the last week. Issay then started to clean the younger man’s private area, Atsushi was clearly uncomfortable with it yet decided not to react to it, he just let Issay wash him.

“I’m going to have to turn you around now,” Issay mentioned as he pushed Atsushi onto his side and over to lie on his chest, yet Atsushi looked somewhat concerned as he got flipped over. “Don’t worry I have been doing this to you for days now.”

Issay pushed Atsushi’s hair aside as he cleaned his neck and back, he then moved on to the younger man’s rear. After that, Issay started to dry him off and eventually turned him back around again. He noticed that Atsushi had quite a blush on his cheeks, it was the first time he was consciously being washed after all, so he decided not to react to it as he dried the rest of Atsushi’s body.

Once Issay was done he grabbed some clean bandages and wrapped up Atsushi’s chest again, yet ignored his arm, it was mostly healed anyway. Issay then removed the towel from the futon before wrapping a clean diaper around Atsushi and placed the sheets back over his body.

“So, after your body has healed a bit more we can actually get you in a bath and wash that hair of yours, but at least you are clean now,” Issay commented as he smiled at Atsushi. “You must be hungry, I’ll get you something to eat,” he then added as he was about to walk away.

“Hey no! You were going to explain! Stop trying to walk away from it!” Atsushi returned, he was angry and worried and needed to finally get some answers.

“I know, I know, and I will give you your answers, but I am first getting you something to eat, then I will tell you everything, I promise,” Issay replied as he grabbed the bucket and walked up the stairs, disappearing out of sight.

As Atsushi lay on the futon, all alone in the silent room, he could not help but be worried about the situation. Being tied up by his leg inside of Issay’s basement instead of being in a hospital, it made no sense. The fact that he was not in a hospital itself was already weird, yet the chain around his ankle was by far the most worrying. Why would he ever need to be chained up?

After about twenty minutes of pure loneliness, Atsushi started to doubt whether or not Issay would actually be coming back, yet after another ten minutes the door opened again and Issay descended the stairs with a bowl and a glass. As Issay sat back down next to Atsushi, he placed the glass of water and the bowl of soup near him on the floor.

“Can you sit up again?” Issay asked, and at that Atsushi slowly sat up, causing only his lower half to be covered by the blanket. Issay then placed himself behind the younger man.

“What?” Atsushi asked, unsure of what Issay was doing.

“Lean against me,” Issay then said, pulling Atsushi against his chest as he handed him the bowl of soup, it would be an easy thing to eat. Issay had still not closed his shirt, it caused direct skin contact between Issay’s chest and Atsushi’s back, yet neither of them seemed to mind it. “How are you feeling?”

“What do you think? I almost feel like I’m the one who nearly killed someone with the way I’m tied up like some god damn animal. What is the need for this anyway?!”

“I understand that it scares you, but you will understand it soon,” Issay replied before adding an almost inaudible “I hope.”

“Maybe if you would finally explain it now!”

“I promised I would huh? Eat first, then I’ll explain it after that-”

“Oh come on, ‘after I’m done with this, after I come back, after you’ve eaten,’ we both know that if I wait for that as well you’ll just come up with another excuse again!” Atsushi commented, quite angry. “How about you explain it now or I won’t eat anything at all.”

Issay let out a soft sigh, “fine, I can’t hide it from you forever anyway.” The way he spoke made Atsushi feel even more worried, whatever the reason for all of this was, it surely was not good.

“So, you were stabbed very close to the heart, none of your organs have been fatally damaged, but it was very close. You passed out due to major blood loss, I failed to get you out of that forest quick enough, and once I got you here your breathing had gotten troublesome and your heartbeat had almost completely stopped.”

Issay paused for a moment and Atsushi did not know what to say, he held the bowl of soup in his hands yet found himself unable to eat. “Um… you needed a blood transfusion, but there was no way I could get that set up and ready in time, let alone find someone to donate,” Issay added before he paused again, realizing that Atsushi was not even moving. “Please try to eat as I speak, you need it.”

Atsushi brought the spoon to his lips and started to eat, slowly, he felt nauseous as he did so, yet he was also hungry. “Alright, so, I have a secret, and that secret was the only thing that could keep you alive. Yet I think it is a better idea to wait until you’re done eating before I tell you that,” Issay then said, causing Atsushi to sigh in annoyment.

“I know the wait is annoying, but trust me, I still have a lot to explain and I don’t want your possible questions to keep you from eating,” Issay explained, hoping it would cause Atsushi to finish the soup, and that it would give himself a little bit more time to prepare himself for sharing the thing he never wanted Atsushi to know.

“Fine, but after that you’ll tell me everything.”

“I promise.”


	3. Questions.

As Atsushi had finished his soup and water, he placed the bowl aside again, “will you now finally tell me what happened?”

“Yes, I will. So, my secret, um… I’m not human.”

“What?” Atsushi asked confused, he was not sure if he understood that right.

“I um… am a vampire,” Issay then clarified, causing the room to fall silent for a few seconds.

“This is not the time for jokes,” Atsushi eventually commented.

“Yeah… I was already afraid you would not believe me, I cannot blame you though, humans are always taught that vampires do not exist after all… I guess I will have to prove it then,” Issay returned as he slowly got up and moved in front of Atsushi, causing the younger man to lose his back support, but he was luckily able to sit up on his own.

“Prove it? What are you talking about? What are you going to do?” Atsushi asked, he was starting to become truly scared now. Issay had him naked and tied up in his basement, playing doctor, and now claiming to be a vampire, has he lost his mind? Has he gone insane?

“Atsushi-kun,” Issay started as he sat down in front of Atsushi, looking him straight into his eyes, his gaze made Atsushi feel uncomfortable, “look into my eyes.”

Atsushi simply stared back at Issay, looking him directly into his eyes just as he was asked to do, and then, Issay’s eyes suddenly started to light up. His dark brown irises turned to a light orange-ish color that shone in the darkness. Atsushi gasped as he tried to crawl backwards, away from Issay, but he could not get far before he felt his back hit the wall.

“You don’t have to be afraid of me Atsushi-kun, I am still the same person you have always known me as,” Issay said, trying to reassure Atsushi as his eyes turned back to normal, yet understanding that his friend was in shock.

“But, what? How? You, I,” Atsushi started, he himself did not even know what he was trying to say.

Issay decided to crawl closer to Atsushi, wrapping his arms around him and holding him close. Atsushi slightly flinched as Issay did this, and as Issay held him, he remained motionless. He seemed to be worried about what Issay was going to do, the older man also noticed the slight shaking of Atsushi’s body as he held him.

“No, but, you said, then,” Atsushi eventually continued, struggling to get to words out.

“Atsushi-kun, breathe, calm down,” Issay returned, releasing Atsushi as he sat back a bit, giving his friend some space.

Atsushi took a few deep breaths before he spoke again. “You said that I had lost too much blood, and that you could not get a transfusion started soon enough… and now this, am I…?” he then asked, fearing for the answer.

“Yes, the reason that you are here, that a hospital cannot help you, that I tell you my secret, it’s all because you will become a vampire too. It was the only way to help you survive that fatal incident, otherwise you would have died.”

“Then,” Atsushi continued, looking at the strange mark on his arm, “is this actually a bite?”

“Yes, that is where I bit you, but don’t worry it will fade, in only a few days you won’t even see it anymore,” Issay assured, the scar was already fading so it was probably true.

“But, if you are… do you, you know, drink…” Atsushi asked as he was looking for the right words to use, unable to form a normal sentence.

“Blood?” Issay finished, to which Atsushi nodded. “Yes, I do, I need it and you will as well soon.”

“What? No, but then… are you, have you…” Atsushi started again, seemingly panicking even more than before.

“Hm? Have I what? It’s okay Atsushi-kun, you can ask me anything,” Issay interrupted, wondering what Atsushi was trying to ask.

“Have you… killed people?” Atsushi managed to get out, yet the thought of it made him feel sick.

“Well…” Issay started, taking a slight pause, this caused Atsushi to already be able to guess the answer. “I have killed those three that did this to you, it would have been too dangerous to let them live anyway as they saw what I was, but honestly, those three were the first and only time.”

“But, if you haven’t before, then, how do you get blood?” Atsushi dared to ask.

“Donations, I have told my band about this, they needed to know, and they donate to me whenever I need it. Vampires can also drink from other vampires, it is less good but it works. When I was younger I drank from my mother, it is like a nursing that could go on forever.”

“So, you were born like this?”

“Yes, I was born a vampire, and that is also the reason for my medical study. Many vampires are trained to become doctors, it’s the easiest way to obtain blood without blowing your cover, and it’s also useful to draw blood from someone who is willing to donate but does not want to be bitten.”

“Does a bite transform a human?”

“No, the thing that starts the process is blood transfusion, when I bit you I let my blood fall into your wound, that started the process and kept you alive, yet you still needed a proper blood transfusion to keep it that way, and thus I pumped more of my blood into you once I got it all set up.”

Atsushi was silent for a moment as he seemed to think about something. “It starts the process? So, I am not a vampire yet?”

“Indeed, many things are about to happen. The biggest issues are that your body will eventually start to change a lot, this will cause quite some pain for quite a while. Your teeth will also fall out but don’t worry, new ones will grow back, and those will be a lot stronger. You will start to become more sensitive to heat and light, and your vision at night, your hearing and your sense of smell will all drastically improve. In the end, you’ll become a lot stronger physically, but the process will be a heavy thing to go through.”

As Atsushi listened to what Issay had to say, the fear in his eyes was visibly growing. “How long will it take? What is ‘quite a while’?”

“It might take from a few days to a week depending on how your body will react.”

“And, when will this start?”

“This… virus, will first help your body to heal before it will start making drastic changes. Once your wounds are healed and you feel a lot better physically, then it will be soon.”

“Oh… I see,” Atsushi returned with a soft voice, “but also, you said I’ll be more sensitive to heat and light, yet you are often outside during the day, so, that is still possible then?”

“Yes, it is less pleasant than at night but it’s not like you’ll burn away. If you are thinking about those vampire movies and stories, forget those, all the information in there is not accurate, not even close.”

“I see, so eating and drinking is still necessary as well? I have seen you eat and drink.”

“Yes, but as a vampire you can survive longer without and you will need less.”

Atsushi nodded his head slightly as he looked away for a moment before aiming his gaze towards Issay once more. “So, a vampire is not dead?”

“No, we are both very much alive, here,” Issay returned as he took the younger man’s hand and placed it on his chest, “my skin is warm right?”

“Yes,” Atsushi replied as he felt the radiating heat coming from Issay.

“And,” Issay continued as he slid the younger man’s hand over to his neck, “can you feel my heartbeat?”

“Yes, but… it’s somewhat slow.”

“Yes, a vampire’s heartbeat is slower, but it’s still a heartbeat.”

“But if you eat and drink, why do you need blood?” Atsushi then asked, unable to understand that part.

“Blood is not a replacement for food or drinks, it works more like a medicine. You can survive for a long time without it but if you do so you will grow weaker, which can escalate to the weakness of a deadly ill person.”

“Oh, I see,” Atsushi returned after which the room grew quiet for a few seconds yet again. “So… are we immortal?”

“No, immortality does not exist, we will eventually die but we will likely live much longer than the average human. Vampires easily pass a hundred.”

“But, all of this still doesn’t explain why I am naked and tied up,” Atsushi then mentioned again, nothing he had just heard explained that part.

“Ah, right, well the naked part, it simply made it easier for me to clean you every day. The chain however, I wanted you to be unable to leave if you were to wake up while I was not here. But also, the transformation might change your way of thinking, it has happened before that people who were changing lost their mind and went on killing everything they came across. I changed you, so you are my responsibility and I want to prevent you from doing any harm in case you lose it.”

“Seriously? I can hardly sit, you expect me to run off?” Atsushi returned sarcastically.

“Maybe not immediately, but you will heal fast. I didn’t know in what state you would wake up and I also don’t know when the process will start. Maybe you’ll feel better in just a few hours, maybe it will take another week. I don’t want to end up having made the mistake of neglecting the possibilities, so, I won’t wait with it until later.”

Atsushi remained silent for a minute before he lay back down, “I’m tired.”

“Yes you have been through a lot, you should get some sleep. Tomorrow I will wash you properly and get you some clothes… it will get better, I promise,” Issay returned as he stood up, taking his bucket and walking away.

“WAIT!” Atsushi suddenly yelled, and thus Issay turned towards him, wondering what he wanted. “Don’t leave me here alone, please.”

“I won’t, not for long at least. I am just going to shower, I will be back soon. I have never been far away Atsushi-kun, I have been sleeping right there all this time,” Issay commented as he pointed at the second futon in the room, so that is why it was there. As Atsushi seemed to calm down again, Issay turned around and left the basement. 

Atsushi pulled the covers back over him, yet found himself unable to fall asleep. It was about twenty minutes later when Issay returned with wet, combed back hair and simply wearing a yukata.

“You are still awake?” Issay asked as he removed the yukata from his body, lying down on the futon in only his underwear.

“Yes, I… wanted to make sure you’d come back.”

“I would never leave you on your own Atsushi-kun, I promise you that. Now get some sleep, your body really needs it.” Issay mentioned, pulling the covers over his body, he was tired himself as well.

“Not only my body,” Atsushi said in reply, he felt mentally drained after today, his thoughts were haunting.

“Right, well, good night,” Issay awkwardly returned as he lay on his side, facing Atsushi.

“Good night,” Atsushi just replied, facing Issay the same way. Yet the fear was still present on the younger man’s face, and Issay could not help but feel worried.


	4. Dreams.

It was around three o’clock in the morning as Issay awoke to several noises. The sounds of moving bed covers, the tinkling of a metal chain, moans and cries that all seemed to come from Atsushi, it sounded like he was having a nightmare. Noticing how it seemed to be pretty bad, Issay stood up and walked over to Atsushi, kneeling down next to him. He was now able to see how sweaty the younger man was, and he noticed the tears that escaped his eyes.

“Atsushi-kun?” Issay called out, yet it had no effect.

“Atsushi-kun?!” Issay spoke again, louder this time, shaking the younger man as well. After a few shakes, Atsushi awoke, he immediately sat up.

“Are you okay?” Issay then asked, placing a hand on Atsushi’s shoulder. He could feel that the younger man was shaking, it must be from fear as he did not seem to be cold, he was sweating after all.

Atsushi just looked over at him in silence. It was almost as if what had happened was more than just a dream. They silently stared at each other, fear in Atsushi’s eyes as Issay’s showed worry. Once Atsushi looked away, he looked at the room around him before he brought his knees to his chest, folded his arms over them and buried his face in that space he created.

“Atsushi-kun?” Issay tried again, yet the younger man did not react to it. “What did you dream about?” he then added, unwilling to just give up.

Atsushi now shook his head as the sounds of soft crying continued. At this Issay decided to shift his position to sit closer to him, pressing his own body sideways against Atsushi’s as he pulled one arm around the younger man.

“Talking about it might help,” Issay mentioned as he gently massaged the younger man. Yet all Atsushi did was wrap his arms around Issay’s waist as he rested his head on his shoulder. Issay decided just to let him, holding him close in response, he seemed to need it. They just sat there, embracing each other as Atsushi’s cries, along with the soft ticking of the clock, became the only sounds in the room.

A few minutes passed as Issay continued to hold and massage Atsushi in an attempt to calm him down, and once he seemed to have finally stopped crying, Issay let go of him before he stood up. Yet, as Issay got onto his feet, Atsushi grabbed him by his hand.

“What’s wrong?” Issay asked, looking down at Atsushi who did not look back up at him, instead he just stared at the floor.

“Don’t go,” Atsushi returned, his voice soft.

“I’m just going to get you some water, okay? I’ll be right back, it won’t even take a minute,” Issay said in reply, and at that Atsushi let go, yet there was still some resistance.

\--

It did indeed not take long for Issay to return with a bottle of water, as he walked over to Atsushi he also grabbed a box of tissues, handing them both to the younger man before he sat back down next to him. Atsushi quickly drank a big part of the bottle’s content before he started to wipe his face with a tissue, in the meantime Issay just massaged his back in silence.

Atsushi now finally seemed to have calmed down as he took a deep breath, “thanks.”

“No problem,” Issay simply returned as he turned his face towards Atsushi, but the younger man still would not look at him. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Atsushi just shook his head in reply.

“Are you sure? it seemed quite heavy, maybe talking about it will help.”

Atsushi took another deep breath as he seemed to think about it, “it’s just… reliving that night.”

“I see,” Issay then said, he did not have to ask which night Atsushi meant, that was already obvious enough. “Now that we are talking about that anyway, there is something I wanted to ask you.”

“Hm? What is it?” Atsushi asked in return, now finally looking Issay in the eye.

“That night, what exactly happened? Why were you in that forest and what did those guys want?” Issay asked, retreating his hand from the younger man’s back.

Atsushi looked back at the floor as he remained silent for a few seconds, “I heard someone scream so, I went to take a look and once I saw how those three tried to rape a woman I decided to intervene, but… that didn’t end up well, at least she got away.”

“Hm, that does explain why he said ‘wants to be the hero as well’,” Issay commented, remembering that stranger’s words, “and why the cops showed up eventually.”

“They did?” Atsushi asked in surprise, looking over at Issay.

“Yeah, I heard sirens not long after I managed to… take them all out. As I picked you up and left I could see them approaching from a distance, but we were already gone before they could notice us. I saw a woman as well, she had probably gone to them for help.”

“Ah I see, but… they must have found the bodies then, right?” Atsushi asked next with a sense of worry in his voice.

“Yeah, I’m sure they have,” Issay replied, yet he didn’t seem too worried about it.

“Aren’t you afraid to be arrested for murder then?” Atsushi then asked, finding it a weird response.

“No,” Issay simply replied, receiving an odd look from the younger man. “I uh… they saw what I am, I had to kill them and the only way to make sure there wouldn’t be any link to me, or anyone really, was to uh… tear them apart… I left them looking like wolves or some other big animal had their fun with them.”

“… What?” was all Atsushi could say in response.

“I’m just glad you didn’t have to see that,” Issay added, he would have hated it if Atsushi had to see him like that.

“But, won’t they wonder about my absence? I’m sure that woman must have told them about me too.”

“Did she see you get stabbed?”

“Yes, she ran away after that.”

“Good, that’s an alibi… if they ever question you, say you lost consciousness and that you woke up here, I’ll take care of the rest in that case.”

Atsushi just nodded in reply, yet, he then suddenly seemed to think about something else. “Wait but… the knife you were stabbed with-”

“Don’t worry about that, I got rid of it,” Issay interrupted, “I only left the knife with your blood, and the clean one behind.”

“And what if that woman knew there were three knifes?” Atsushi asked next, considering all the possibilities.

“We don’t know what happened with it. You had already passed out by then and I only arrived after they had already died, yeah?”

“Do you really think they’ll believe you?”

“Why wouldn’t they? Really I did not leave them looking as if their deaths could have been caused by a human, you just have to trust me on this one.”

Atsushi shook his head at this, “your blood is on the scene too, right?”

“No, he jammed that knife into my side but did not pull it out. I left that knife in me until we got here, it prevented me from bleeding.”

Atsushi’s eyes opened widely at this, his mouth agape. It was almost as if Issay had been through situations like this before, considering the way he just spoke about this and knew what to do so well, as if it was nothing special. “Have you ever been through something like this before or something?”

“No, I’m just trained for situations like these… vampire life,” Issay simply returned, Atsushi could almost not believe it. “Let’s just try to go back to sleep alright? I’m sure you must be tired.”

“No I… I don’t think I can sleep tonight,” Atsushi returned, he was sure that that same nightmare would just continue. “I um… can I go wash this sweat off?”

“Yeah, I’ll get you to the bathroom,” Issay replied as he stood up and walked away, soon returning with a key. He undid the metal cuff around Atsushi’s ankle before turning his back towards the younger man and getting down on one knee.

“Try to climb onto my back,” Issay then said, and so Atsushi did. Hooking his hands underneath the younger man’s knees, Issay carried him towards the bathroom, occasionally letting go with one hand to open a door. Once they arrived, Issay put Atsushi down on top of the closed toilet seat, next, Issay grabbed a washcloth and turned on the faucet, letting the water warm up.

Once the water had gotten warm, Issay doused the washcloth in it before starting to wash the sweat off of Atsushi, who did not seem to mind it, in fact, his mind seemed to be elsewhere. Cleaning his chest, back, arms and legs, Issay then put the washcloth away as he dried Atsushi off.

“Is there something else you need to talk about?” Issay suddenly asked.

“What do you mean?”

“You seem to be thinking about something, I don’t know whether you are struggling with some thoughts or simply tired, but if you want to talk about something, I’m here for you.”

“Well,” Atsushi started, thinking for a moment, “there is actually something I can’t get out of my mind.”

“What is it?” Issay asked, wondering what more Atsushi could be thinking about.

“Um… you know how they say that right before you die you see your whole life flashing by?”

“Yes, did that happen to you?”

Atsushi nodded in reply, “it made me wonder… are you sure I didn’t die?”

Issay sighed at the question, “well… to be honest, you did indeed die for a very short time, a few seconds only.”

“What? But you said you can’t bring back the dead.”

“I can’t turn a dead body into a vampire, but I can reanimate somebody who’s heart just stopped beating, and that is what I did. Once you were back I bit you and started the blood transfusion, otherwise you would have just died again.”

Atsushi remained quiet for a moment, “so I really did die.”

“Yes, but you also came back, you are not dead right now, you were not dead for long, don’t let it bother you Atsushi-kun,” Issay returned, almost as if it wasn’t important.

“Why did you say I didn’t die at first? You said I almost died,” Atsushi asked next, he felt betrayed somehow.

“Because I don’t want you to stress about that as well, you already have enough on your mind, I just wanted you to focus on recovering,” Issay explained with a slight sigh.

“Don’t keep information from me,” Atsushi then said, sounding somewhat angry.

“I’m sorry, I just wanted to keep your mind clear from unnecessary information-”

“Unnecessary information?! The fact that I died is unnecessary information?!” Atsushi then yelled, those words really hurt his feelings.

“I don’t mean it like that! I just mean that it is not something you should be concerned with right now, and you only died for maybe ten seconds, I also brought you back in a normal way.”

“Still, were you even planning to tell me at all?!”

“Of course! Once you would have gotten more used to the situation, but now you know it anyway.”

Atsushi shook his head as he looked away, softly laughing, he did not really know what to say or how to react right now.

“Atsushi-kun, I’m sorry, I just wanted to prevent you from getting too much information all at once. I already felt like I said too much when I explained what was about to happen to your body, yet I found it necessary to let you know so you could maybe somewhat prepare for it,” Issay then added in apology.

“Is there anything else I don’t know yet?”

“No, you now know what has happened and what will happen.”

“Really? I am actually wondering how you got me here without being seen. It was night, but even at night there are enough people outside.”

“Ah, well, to be honest, there are many old, underground passageways throughout town, and my basement connects to them, there is a hidden door in the basement wall,” Issay explained. Atsushi could almost not believe it, it sounded so unreal.

“So… you got me here through some old underground tunnels?” Atsushi now asked, wondering if he even heard that right.

“Yeah, I know it sounds weird but vampires make use of those tunnels a lot, I know them just as well as the town itself.” Issay explained, taking a slight pause. “There are many secrets that are kept from humans Atsushi-kun, you are the first person I mention those tunnels to, and I have to ask you to never tell anyone, it’s our safe zone.”

“Safe zone? are there, like… hunters or anything?” Atsushi asked, fear in his eyes.

“Well, I did mention that some transformed humans lose their mind right? they go out and kill,” Issay asked, receiving a nod from Atsushi, “thanks to them and the ones who changed them, who failed to monitor them, there is a group of humans who know about the existence of vampires. Yet since the ones they met were the crazy ones, they want us all dead.”

“So, are you being hunted?” the younger man then asked, that fear still present.

“No, I don’t stand out enough, they are not able to guess that I am a vampire, I act far too human for that. And I will make sure that you stay under the radar as well, don’t you worry about that,” Issay replied, trying to reassure his friend.

Atsushi nodded, as if mentally trying to tell himself it would be alright, “I uh… I need to get this off,” Atsushi suddenly said as he touched his diaper, referring to it.

“It’s better to keep that on at night, just in case.”

“I know, um…” Atsushi then started, trying to say something as his cheeks started to heat up.

“Oh, I get it, it was necessary, wasn’t it?” Issay then asked, realizing what Atsushi meant.

“Um… during the dream, when I woke up,” Atsushi returned, clearly ashamed.

“I get it, you dreamt about that night, right?” Issay asked again, receiving another nod from Atsushi. “It might be connected, I mean, it did happen that night as well.”

“I know… it happened again in the dream as well,” Atsushi mentioned quietly.

Issay softly laughed at that, yet not because Atsushi had wetted himself once again, he found it more amusing how embarrassed Atsushi was about it.

“It’s not funny!” Atsushi commented, an angry expression on his face as his cheeks grew even more red.

“I know, I’m sorry I am not laughing at you I just…” Issay started as he stopped laughing, “you don’t need to be so embarrassed about it, you can’t help it.”

“Then why were you laughing?!” Atsushi asked, still feeling offended.

“It’s just… your reaction is cute,” Issay admitted, unable to hide his smile as he averted his eyes from the younger man.

To this, Atsushi had nothing to say, he seemed somewhat confused. Issay then quickly ran his hand over the younger man’s head, yet as he did so he could feel that greasy hair, it really needed to be washed in the morning.

“Alright, I’ll get you a clean one then, I can understand you feel uncomfortable in that one,” Issay said as he took the diaper off of Atsushi and threw it away, he then grabbed that washcloth again, warming it up with some fresh, warm water before he cleaned the younger man’s private area. Atsushi simply let it happen, just like before, he probably did not have the energy to do it himself, and he knew that. His body felt so weak, simply sitting up was already difficult.

As Issay finished up, he threw the washcloth into the laundry bin before drying Atsushi off again. “I keep them in the basement though, so I’ll get you a clean one back there, can you get onto my back again?”

“Um… I don’t think I have the strength for that anymore,” Atsushi replied, he had started to feel weaker as he grew more tired.

“I see, that’s fine, I did leave the basement door open,” Issay commented as he opened the bathroom door and picked Atsushi up in his arms, Atsushi wrapped his arms around Issay’s neck in response. As they left the bathroom, Issay kicked the door shut behind him before he brought Atsushi back to the basement, laying him down onto the futon once again.

Next he grabbed a clean diaper, wrapping it around Atsushi’s hips. “Try to get some sleep, it might be hard but your body needs to rest,” Issay then said as he walked away.

“Where are you going?” Atsushi returned, sitting up.

“Nowhere, I am just closing the door,” Issay replied as he did what he said he would do before returning to Atsushi, kneeling down next to him. “Relax Atsushi-kun, I really won’t leave you.”

Atsushi just nodded as he looked Issay in the eye, “sorry, I just…”

“You don’t want to be left alone, I understand that, you don’t need to apologize. But I promise you I’ll always be close, okay? I really won’t leave you.” Issay repeated, he understood that Atsushi was afraid, but he just wanted him to know that he was not and would not be alone.

Atsushi nodded again, yet as Issay was about to stand up he once again grabbed the older man by his wrist, still as weakly as the previous time. “Um… can I request one more thing?”

“What is it?” Issay returned, staying seated next to Atsushi.

“Um… this might sound a bit weird but…” Atsushi started, seemingly thinking about how to ask what he wanted to ask.

“It’s okay, you can ask me anything,” Issay mentioned as he noticed the struggle.

“Well… can you… sleep next to me?” Atsushi then asked, unable to look Issay in the eye.

Issay did not have to ask for a reason, he understood that Atsushi was afraid and probably wanted to feel someone nearby, to know that he was not alone, to feel some sense of safety. “I will, I’ll get my futon over here,” Issay said as he stood up, Atsushi now let go of him. Issay quickly moved his own futon over to lay it next to Atsushi’s.

Yet, before Issay would lie down he first walked over to Atsushi’s leg, putting that metal cuff back around his ankle. Issay could clearly see that Atsushi was annoyed by it, yet probably did not have the energy to complain. Issay then lay down next to Atsushi, facing him. It was somewhat odd to lie this close to him, but he did not mind it.

“Let’s try to get some sleep,” Issay said, softly smiling at the younger man, who simply nodded in reply.


	5. Refreshed.

As Atsushi opened his eyes, he realized that he was alone again, where was Issay? He said he would never be gone for long, so he would probably come back soon. Atsushi decided to sit up and wait for him to return, it was not like he could do much else anyway. Luckily, the door to the basement soon opened and Issay descended the stairs with a tray. He had already gotten dressed as well.

“Ah, you are awake, perfect timing,” Issay said as he walked up to Atsushi and sat down besides him, placing the tray in between them.

“I already wondered where you were,” Atsushi commented as he now realized Issay was simply making breakfast.

“I’ll never be gone for long,” Issay mentioned again as he grabbed Atsushi’s breakfast and handed it to him. Atsushi nodded, thanking him as he accepted the food and started to eat, Issay simply did the same.

“So, did you sleep well eventually?” Issay then asked.

“Yeah, that nightmare didn’t return luckily, I didn’t dream anything.”

“Oh that’s good, hopefully it stays away,” Issay commented as he took a bite of his breakfast.

“But what if it will become a returning nightmare?”

“Let’s hope it won’t be. You might have just dreamt about it because we talked about it so much yesterday. But, if it will keep returning, then I guess therapy would be the best option.”

Atsushi let out a quick laugh at that, “therapy? How would I even explain what has happened to a therapist?”

Issay just shrugged, “you could leave out the vampire part, acting as if reanimation was enough. Let’s first see if that dream will even return at all.”

“Yeah, I hope it won’t. But, how did you sleep?”

“pretty good.”

“Okay that’s good,” Atsushi then said, sounding relieved, “after I ruined half your night.”

“Hm? What are you talking about?” Issay asked in return, looking over at Atsushi.

“Well, I assume you woke up because of me, and then I also asked you to do all those things.”

“It’s okay, it’s not your fault you had a nightmare,” Issay returned, quickly placing a hand on the younger man’s shoulder. “And I also don’t mind helping you, not at all.”

“Still… I even asked you to sleep next to me,” Atsushi then recalled, laughing softly at it.

Issay just smiled, “I don’t mind that either, if it makes you feel safer I’ll do it any time.”

“Thanks,” Atsushi now said, a smile on his face as he looked over at Issay, “you are a great friend.”

Issay’s smile remained on his face as he looked back at Atsushi, quickly wrapping his arm around him, giving him a side hug. “I know you would have done the same for me,” he commented as he held Atsushi for a moment. “We may never have hung out much, but I knew we would always be there for each other if needed, right?”

Atsushi nodded in reply, “Definitely.”

“Good,” Issay then said as he let go of Atsushi, enabling them both to continue eating their breakfast.

“And speaking of friends, do my bandmates even know what happened or where we are? We did suddenly disappear after all, right?”

Issay nodded at this question, “yeah, they showed up at my door the day after, asking if you were here since you weren’t home. They refused to leave before having seen you, so, I had to explain it all to them.”

“So they know?” Atsushi asked in return, causing Issay to nod again, “and you trust them with that information?”

“If they were to talk about this they would only make themselves sound crazy, and they know I am only helping you and keeping you safe, so I trust them to stay quiet about this,” Issay returned, Atsushi had nothing to say to that. “But, how are you feeling today?”

“Slightly better than yesterday, but still not great.”

“I see, that might take a while then, but slightly better is at least something.”

“Yeah, it’s a start.”

Once they were both done eating, Issay collected everything on the tray again and stood up, “I’ll put this away, and then I’ll come back to pick you up, time for a real shower,” he said as he walked away, going up the stairs and disappearing for another few minutes.

\--

Once Issay returned to the basement, he took the key from his pocket and undid the metal cuff around Atsushi’s ankle. “I doubt you can walk already, but it’s not impossible, so, do you want to try?”

“Yes,” Atsushi simply replied as he tried to stand up, yet he soon found himself unstable, and Issay noticed that as well. He immediately provided support to prevent Atsushi from falling over.

“Are you okay?” Issay asked as Atsushi was nearly hanging from his shoulder.

“No, I’m dizzy… my legs feel weak,” Atsushi replied as his legs seemed to lose all their strength and left Issay as the only thing that kept him from dropping to the ground. Issay decided to pick Atsushi up in his arms and to carry him up the stairs, towards the bathroom, he had already opened the doors just in case.

Once they arrived at the bathroom, Issay placed Atsushi down into the bathtub, removing a still clean diaper before removing the bandages from his torso. The wound seemed to be healing nicely already, it seemed like it did not need to be wrapped up anymore.

“Um,” Atsushi suddenly started.

“Hm? What is it?”

“I need to uh… pee,” Atsushi added, looking somewhat uncomfortable.

“Only pee?” Issay asked, receiving a nod from the younger man, “just do it there then, we’ll wash it away.”

“What? you’re just gonna watch?” Atsushi returned, he could not do it while being watched like this.

“Right, sorry,” Issay just replied as he turned around, yet nothing seemed to happen.

“Can you um… just leave?” Atsushi asked after a little while, it seemed like Issay’s presence altogether made him unable to do what he needed to do.

“Okay, call me when you’re done,” Issay said as he left the room and closed the door behind him. Now that the younger man was alone, he quickly urinated in the direction of the shower drain, and once he was done, he called out to Issay. The door then opened as Issay returned to the bathroom, taking off his shirt and putting it away as he walked back to the bathtub, he probably wanted to keep his shirt dry. 

Issay then grabbed the showerhead, turning on the water and letting it warm up before he aimed it towards Atsushi. He first rinsed the remains of the urine away before he let the water cover Atsushi's body. Next, Issay turned the water off again as he grabbed the bottle of soap, beginning to wash Atsushi. He started at his chest again, then moved on to his armpits and arms, next was his private area and then down to his legs and feet.

“So, I’ll turn you around now,” Issay mentioned as he looked at Atsushi’s face, realizing that that blush had returned. Issay did not think too much of it, it was, after all, not everyday that you get washed by a friend, it was a strange situation. Issay helped Atsushi to lie onto his chest again, carefully considering the wound, as he cleaned the younger man’s back, then his rear, same procedure as yesterday but with more water and soap this time.

“Alright, and back up,” Issay said as he helped Atsushi to get back into his previous position, “can you sit?”

“Yeah, I think I can,” Atsushi replied as he slowly sat up in the tub. Issay then turned the water on again and rinsed the soap off of his friend, making him lie back down for a moment to rinse off the soap down below as well. Once he was done he made sure that Atsushi’s hair was soaked before he turned the water off again and grabbed the shampoo, starting to wash the younger man’s hair. Next he washed it out and repeated the process with conditioner.

Once Atsushi had been washed, Issay grabbed a towel and wrapped it around Atsushi’s head, his hair inside of it to keep the water from dripping all over him again. Then, with a second towel, he dried Atsushi’s body. Once the younger man was mostly dried up, Issay helped him to get out of the tub and made him lean against it while sitting on his knees. Issay then quickly finished up drying the younger man before he stood up.

“Alright, wait here I’ll get you something to wear,” Issay said, tossing the towel into the laundry bin.

“It’s not like I can walk away,” Atsushi returned as he sank further onto the floor, his knees were already starting to hurt.

“Right… I’ll be right back,” Issay replied as he walked out of the room, soon returning with underwear and a folded yukata. He placed the yukata aside as he helped Atsushi to sit down on the floor. Issay then pulled the underwear up over his legs, and once they rested on the younger man’s thighs, Issay helped him back onto his knees as he pulled the underwear up further and into position.

“Okay, try to stand,” Issay then said as he helped Atsushi to get up, slowly, as he might have just stood up too fast earlier. “Do you think you will be able to stand if you lean against the sink?”

“Maybe, let’s try,” Atsushi answered, and thus Issay placed him against the sink. Atsushi leaned half over it as Issay put the yukata on him, one arm at a time. Once it was on, Issay closed the yukata for him, next he helped the younger man to walk over to the toilet seat and made him sit on top of it.

Issay then readied a toothbrush with toothpaste and water, handing it over to Atsushi. “It will probably be easier if you did this yourself.”

“Yeah,” Atsushi simply replied as he took the toothbrush from Issay and started brushing his teeth. Issay held up a cup underneath Atsushi’s chin in which he could spit out the toothpaste. Once Atsushi was done, Issay handed him a cup of water to rinse his mouth, he then made him spit that out into the other cup as well before he emptied them, quickly cleaned them and put them away.

Issay now quickly cleaned the last remains of toothpaste off of Atsushi’s face with a towel before he picked him up in his arms again. Carrying him into the living room he placed Atsushi down onto a dining chair. Issay then undid the towel around the younger man’s head, running his hand through that long hair, noticing that it was still quite moist, yet the towel itself was soaked.

“I will be right back, try not to fall over,” Issay said as he walked towards the bathroom again, returning without a towel, but with a hairdryer and a comb. It seemed like Issay wasn’t planning to put his shirt back on any time soon. He started to dry Atsushi’s hair further with that hairdryer as he combed it backwards. Atsushi just enjoyed it, it felt quite calming to him.

“So, now you really are clean again,” Issay commented as he put the hairdryer and comb aside.

“Mhm, gotta say, it does feel good, so thanks.”

“That’s what friends are for.”

“Not just any friend would do this much.”

“A good friend would. A good friend would never let you handle a hard time on your own.”

“Yeah that’s true, but still, I appreciate what you do for me,” Atsushi returned, Issay smiled at those words as he softly pat Atsushi on his shoulder in reply. Atsushi seemed to be taking the entire situation quite well at the moment, much better than yesterday at least. “I’m getting tired already.”

“Yeah that’s normal, you still need a lot of rest, come on,” Issay said as he picked Atsushi up again.

“Are you gonna tie me back up in your basement?” Atsushi asked as he wrapped his arms around Issay’s neck.

“No don’t worry, I won’t leave you there on your own all day long,” Issay replied, walking over to the living room and placing Atsushi down onto the couch. “Shall I turn on the television?”

“Sure,” Atsushi returned as he lay down comfortably, and thus Issay turned on the television, there was some anime playing at the moment. Issay placed the remote onto the table, close enough for Atsushi to reach it. “Feel free to change the channel if you want to, I need to go get something,” Issay then said as he walked away, yet before he could return, Atsushi had already fallen asleep.


	6. Watch.

When Atsushi woke up again, he found himself lying underneath a blanket, the television was still on but it was showing something else now. Issay was sitting on a chair near the couch, simply watching the screen. Atsushi noticed that Issay had decided to put his shirt back on, maybe he had started to feel a bit cold in the meantime. As Atsushi looked over at Issay, the older man soon realized that he had woken up.

“Oh, are you awake?” Issay asked, an unnecessary question as the answer was obvious.

“Mhm,” Atsushi replied as he tried to sit up, yet soon felt something at his feet. As Atsushi pulled the blanket up a bit, he noticed two cuffs around his ankles, a chain connected them to each other. The chain seemed long enough to enable him to walk, yet he would likely not be able to get anywhere fast, nor silently. “Really? Again?”

“Yeah I’m sorry, I want to get used to doing that so I won’t forget once it really becomes necessary,” Issay replied, he did not like having to do it either, but he prefered doing an unnecessary thing over regretting not having done it later. “And like I said before, I don’t really know when it will become necessary, so I don’t want to be too late.”

Atsushi sighed at the reply, “it’s fine, I guess… where did you even get this stuff anyway?”

“A store,” Issay simply replied, receiving a weird look from the younger man, “it’s actually quite normal for a vampire to own this, it’s some sort of ‘just in case’ thing.”

“Oh, alright then,” Atsushi returned as he decided to just forget about it. “So… how many people have you turned into vampires?”

“You are the first one actually, I never wanted to change anyone, but I could not just let you die,” Issay answered, he was not a fan of creating vampires, but he preferred a vampire Atsushi over a dead Atsushi.

“I see,” Atsushi then simply replied, not knowing what else to say. The sound of the doorbell ringing then soon caught the attention of both men. Issay got up and walked towards the door, opening it, and Atsushi watched as Yoshida then entered the house, first greeting Issay.

“Hey, you are finally up huh?” Yoshida commented as he looked over at Atsushi, who now sat up on the couch with the blanket only covering his lap.

“Yes, since yesterday,” Issay said before Atsushi could even reply.

“I see, so how are you feeling?” Yoshida then asked.

“I’m alright, just tired mostly,” Atsushi replied.

“Ah, well that’s good then,” Yoshida returned before looking over at Issay, who nodded at him. Issay seemingly already knew what Yoshida wanted to ask. Yoshida then walked up to Atsushi, sitting down next to him. “So, he is not a threat and yet you still lock him up in those huh?” he then added as he noticed the cuffs around Atsushi’s ankles.

“I prefer to stay cautious, I don’t want to regret it later,” Issay said in response as he sat down in the chair again.

“And you don’t mind it?” Yoshida then asked, a question directed towards Atsushi.

“Uh, I don’t have much of a choice, but it’s alright.”

“I see, well, good luck with all of this,” Yoshida then said to Atsushi, who simply thanked him in return. Next, Yoshida brought his attention back to Issay again, “so, do you want to do it now?”

“Yes, let’s go to the kitchen,” Issay returned as he stood up again, he could have just as well not sat down at all.

“What are you going to do?” Atsushi asked, he was curious.

“Ah, I uh, called Yoshida to come over because I’m starting to feel weaker.”

“Yep, it’s time to feed the leech,” Yoshida then jokingly said as he noticed the uncomfortable atmosphere that was starting to fill the room. Issay and Atsushi both just softly laughed in return, it was not the first time one of Issay’s band members made a vampire joke, and it surely would not be the last time either.

“So, you have to do that in the kitchen?” Atsushi asked.

“No, normally we just take care of it right here,” Yoshida replied.

“Yeah, but it might not be a fun thing to watch, so…” Issay then added.

“Well, I will have to deal with that eventually as well right? So, show me how you do it,” Atsushi said. He wanted to watch.

“Oh, uh… do you mind?” Issay asked Yoshida.

“No, it’s fine by me,” Yoshida simply replied as he shrugged.

“Well, alright then, I’ll be right back,” Issay then said as he walked away, leaving Yoshida and Atsushi behind on the couch. Issay soon returned with a first aid kit which he placed on top of the coffee table before he sat down between his two friends.

“Where do you want it?” Issay then asked, referring to the bite.

“Hm, shoulder I think, I don’t want to have to explain a weird wound on my arm,” Yoshida replied, a short sleeved shirt would be enough to hide it on the shoulder, which would be better as the weather was occasionally warm enough for it.

“Alright, take your shirt off then,” Issay said, and so Yoshida did, placing his shirt down on the couch between himself and the armrest. Issay then got on top of Yoshida’s lap, one leg on each side as he faced him. As awkward as it was, it was the easiest way to drink from his shoulder in this position.

“So,” Issay started, about to explain the process to Atsushi, “I have him sit down since he will likely get nauseous from this, you never really get used to it after all. And then, for the shoulder, I will make sure the skin is tightened and that I have enough space,” Issay then added as Yoshida moved his head to the side and against the backrest, he already knew what to do as this was not new to him anymore.

“Just like that indeed,” Issay commented, “and then, I will use one of my fangs to make a small hole in the soft area of his shoulder, around here somewhere,” he continued, touching the location with his index finger, “not too deep, just enough to get access to his bloodstream.”

As Issay had explained to Atsushi what he was going to do, he dug his fang into Yoshida’s shoulder, who slightly flinched but soon calmed down. Atsushi watched as Issay sucked the blood out of Yoshida’s shoulder, which continued for several seconds before he sat back up.

As a thin line of blood fell down Yoshida's chest, Issay realized something. “Atsushi-kun, when you see this, does it do anything to you? Can you smell it? Does it make you feel any kind of hunger or thirst?”

Atsushi shook his head in reply, “no, it doesn’t do anything to me, I don’t smell anything special.” In all honesty, it even made him feel slightly sick, yet he decided not to mention that.

“Alright, then it really has not started yet, that’s good,” Issay commented before he brought his attention back to Yoshida, “are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” Yoshida replied as he stayed still. Issay then leaned back to grab the first aid kit, cleaning Yoshida’s chest, shoulder and wound before he dressed it. Next he helped Yoshida back into his shirt before he stood up and walked towards the kitchen.

“So, you don’t mind this?” Atsushi asked as he noticed how dizzy Yoshida seemed to be.

“If it is to help a friend I don’t mind it, the effect of it only stays for a few hours to a day anyway, then I’ll be feeling just fine again and Issay will be good for at least a week,” Yoshida returned with a small smile. Issay soon returned with a drink and something to eat, which he handed to Yoshida.

“I always give them something like this, a drink with quite some sugar in it and something light to eat, that will help him to recover quickly.”

“That is another good thing about it, feed the leech and you get free food and drinks,” Yoshida mentioned as he started to eat and drink.

Atsushi just smiled before he looked over at Issay, “don’t you mind being called a leech?”

“It’s fine, he never uses it as an insult, and it’s not being said that much either. I guess he’s just trying to cheer you up today.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry,” Yoshida then said, “I just wanted to lighten up the mood a little.”

“I see, sorry,” Atsushi apologized, causing the room to fall silent for a minute, the opposite of what Yoshida was trying to achieve. In the meantime, Issay put the first aid kit away again before he returned to the living room.

“Do you want something as well? You haven’t eaten much today,” Issay asked Atsushi.

“No, I’m a bit nauseous, thanks though.”

“A bucket then?” was Issay’s next question.

“It’s not that bad,” Atsushi replied, he did not feel like he had to throw up.

“Well, at least drink something,” Issay then added, “you need to stay hydrated.”

Atsushi nodded, he should be able to keep that in, “just some water then.”

Issay returned to the kitchen once again to grab Atsushi a glass of water, and as he walked back into the living room, he handed it to him. Issay then sat back down into his chair as Atsushi took a few sips of the water before placing it onto the table.

“By the way, now that he is awake and still safe to get close to, don’t you think it’s time to let his friends come over? Imai is still non stop bothering us, trying to get information,” Yoshida eventually mentioned.

Atsushi looked over at Yoshida as he said that, yet did not say anything about it in reply. 

“I’ll give them a call later,” Issay then said before turning to Atsushi, “I’d suspect you would like to see them too, right?”

Atsushi brought his attention to Issay, nodding at him in response, “of course.”

“Alright, well, I won’t be bothering you two for much longer, I assume you need rest,” Yoshida suddenly said as he put the empty food bowl and can of drink onto the table and stood up.

“Take it easy, you can stay and rest up a bit before you go,” Issay returned, he did not want Yoshida to leave if he did not feel good enough for it yet, he had only just donated.

“Yeah, you are not a bother to me,” Atsushi then added, he did not want Yoshida to think he was.

“Hm, well maybe I should indeed cause I’m still quite dizzy,” Yoshida then said, it could be that he simply stood up too fast, yet it was better not to take any risks.

“Alright, you sit down in that chair then,” Issay said as he stood up and helped Yoshida over to the chair, sitting him down, “then you can lie down if you need to,” he then added, words aimed towards Atsushi, who simply nodded.

“Such a good doctor, isn’t he?” Yoshida commented, causing Atsushi to let out a little laugh.

Issay smiled at it too as he shook his head, “you two are a handful.”


	7. Visitors.

After about an hour, Yoshida felt good enough to leave. Atsushi had already lay down and fallen asleep on the couch in the meantime, comfortably under the blanket. As Yoshida got up, he quietly said goodbye to Issay as he silently left the building. Now that Yoshida was gone, Issay decided to give Imai a call. Dialing the number, he hoped the talking would not disturb Atsushi, he would have to keep it down.

As the phone got picked up and Issay heard Imai’s voice on the other side, he started talking, “Hey, it’s Issay.”

“Issay-san? Finally, how’s Acchan doing?” Imai returned, he sounded relieved yet worried at the same time.

“He’s doing alright at the moment, he is asleep on the couch right now.”

“So he woke up?!”

“Yeah, yesterday.”

“And you only call now?!”

“He woke up in the evening, he wasn’t ready for visitors yet.”

“Hm, if you say so, but I can’t talk to him then?”

“Not right now, but you could come over with the rest of the band later, he would like to see you all too.”

“Is that alright? Considering the situation and what you told us.”

“For now it is, there is nothing to worry about yet.”

“Alright, good, so, when can we come over?”

“Well he just fell asleep a few minutes ago, if you could show up in about two hours, he should be rested back up enough again by then.”

“Alright, you’ll see us in two hours then. Oh and, do we need to bring anything?”

“Hm, do you have access to his house?”

“Yeah, I have the spare key.”

“Then, could you bring some of his own clothes?”

“Yes, no problem.”

“Alright see you in two hours then, goodbye.”

“Right, see you,” Imai said before he put the phone down, hearing the beep, Issay too hang up.

\--

About two hours later, the doorbell rang, yet Atsushi did not wake up from it, he had entered quite a deep sleep. Issay opened the door and let the group enter, besides Imai, Toll, Yuta and Hide had also come along, just as Issay had expected.

“He is actually still asleep, so, should I wake him up?” Issay quietly asked as he let the men enter.

“Oh, no, just let him sleep then, we’ll wait,” Toll replied, to which they all agreed. They all took their coats and shoes off as they entered the living room, Imai then handed Issay the bag of clothing he had brought along from Atsushi’s place and Issay thanked him as he placed it onto the dining table.

Next, Issay moved three of the dining chairs over to the living room, “take a seat,” he said, and to that, Toll, Yuta and Hide each sat down on one of the kitchen chairs as Imai took one of the more comfortable chairs next to the couch Atsushi slept on.

“Do you want anything to drink?” Issay asked, but all he received was a collection of “no thanks,” and thus he sat down in the other living room chair.

As all eyes were on Atsushi, it was as if he could feel it as he soon opened his eyes, “how long have you all been here?” he asked as he sat up.

“We just arrived not even a minute ago,” Toll replied as a tinkling sound of metal filled the room, and everyone’s attention was brought to the cuffs around Atsushi’s ankles, which had now become visible from underneath the blanket. The group decided not to react to it, they had already seen the chain around Atsushi’s ankle back in that basement earlier this week, when he was still asleep. And they all remembered Issay’s explanation, they expected this to be the same story.

“Acchan, how are you feeling?” Toll soon asked.

“Just tired a lot, but besides that I am alright.”

“Didn’t you say he would be in a lot of pain?” Imai then asked, a question directed to Issay.

“Once the transformation starts he will be, yes, for now it’s just his body healing.”

“So, you are not in pain yet?” Imai then asked one more time, making sure. As Atsushi shook his head, Imai stood up from the chair and sat down on the couch next to Atsushi, wrapping his arms around his friend. Atsushi automatically hugged him back.

“Careful for that wound,” Toll then reminded Imai as he remembered what it looked like the day after the incident, when they visited Issay to find Atsushi.

At this, Imai pulled away from Atsushi, he had not thought about that, “oh right, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry, I hardly feel it,” Atsushi returned.

“It has mostly healed already after all,” Issay added, he had already expected Atsushi to have no problems with that wound.

“Really? It looked terrible earlier this week,” Toll then mentioned, he could not imagine that wound to have healed already.

“It’s not so bad,” Atsushi returned as he removed the Yukata from his left arm, revealing the left side of his chest.

“What? That looks like it’s a few weeks old, yet a few days ago it was still an open wound,” Toll commented, the rest of the band looked on in silence, they too could not believe it.

“I told you he would heal fast,” Issay then interrupted, “he’s also lucky it didn’t get infected.”

“Speaking of that,” Yuta then suddenly started, his attention aimed towards Issay, “you had quite a wound as well that day, how is yours healing?”

“Oh, mine is mostly gone already,” Issay returned as he stood up, pulling up his shirt to show the scar on his side.

The group seemed to be even more surprised by his scar than Atsushi’s wound.  
“I heal even faster,” Issay simply mentioned as he corrected his shirt and sat back down, “I told you I’d be fine.”

“Acchan,” Imai then suddenly asked, “what actually happened that night? I have been wondering about that all week.”

“Oh, well… I heard a scream while I was taking a smoke, and as I checked it out I saw how three guys were trying to rape a woman, and thus I decided to intervene.”

“And they stabbed you just for that?” Yuta asked after a moment of silence, “what is wrong with people?”

That comment made Issay think about it again for a moment. People do, sadly, not necessarily need much of a reason to hurt others, especially in those situations, so it is not necessarily illogical. To those guys, Atsushi was in the way, he was a problem to them, so they wanted to get rid of him, and at such a moment they didn't care about how they would have to do that, the life of another is not important to such people.

“Well…” Atsushi added, interrupting Issay’s thoughts, “she was too afraid to run away immediately, and these guys didn’t leave either, they kept trying to get past me, so… I eventually decided to fight them.”

“Wait what? Fight them?! You didn’t tell me anything about that!” Issay now interrupted.

“I needed to keep them away from her,” Atsushi replied, looking away.

“And thus you fight them?! Three against one?! Are you insane?!” Issay continued as he stood up, he seemed quite mad at this.

“I thought it would be fine, I didn’t know they all had knives. In fact, I didn’t even realize that I was stabbed until I noticed the blood, I thought he had just hit me.”

“Still, you thought three against one would be fine?! Even if they would not have had knives they would have just beaten you to death!” Issay returned, he could not believe this.

“Okay screaming won’t help either, sit down,” Toll now interrupted as he stood up and nudged Issay back into his chair.

“He was just trying to help someone, what else was he supposed to do? Let those guys have their way?” Hide now said, immediately getting Issay’s attention.

“He could have taken that girl by her arm and tried to either walk away or run off with her! Maybe scream as well! Somebody would have probably heard it!” Issay returned, he felt several emotions rush through his body all at once. “Trying to protect her, fine, but fighting three guys? When you are alone?! Are you fucking kidding me?! If you would have tried to loudly get away with her I might have been in time to help!”

“I’m sorry,” Atsushi said again, trying not to show any emotion, yet those held back tears started to fall from the corners of his eyes, “I’m an idiot.”

“Yes you sure are!” Issay returned.

“Okay, but there is nothing we can change about it now,” Imai commented as he wrapped his arms back around Atsushi, pressing the younger man against his chest, holding him again for a few seconds before they parted.

Ignoring Issay’s outburst for a moment, the rest of the group did not want to stay behind. One by one they all stood up to give Atsushi a hug, first Yuta, then Hide, and last Toll, they all had to miss him for far too long, and were all afraid they would have to miss him forever. For that reason, they wanted to make sure Atsushi would know they care about him.

Issay just sat in his chair, his head in his hands, he could not believe Atsushi would pull a move like that, that he would really be stupid enough to do such a thing. 

“Being angry about it won’t help, Issay-san,” Toll decided to say after a while.

“Oh yeah acting like this isn’t important at all is going to be so much better huh,” Issay returned sarcastically, he did not mean to be rude, yet he could not keep himself from letting his anger out through words. “Just why did you not tell me this before?” he then added, directed to Atsushi.

“I knew you would not take it well, and, you did keep things from me as well.”

“Because I thought it would be too much for you to handle all at once! Because I had already given you a lot to deal with and wanted to take this slow! For you! Like I already explained! But this is not really the same now is it?!” Issay returned, it did not seem like he was going to calm down any time soon.

“I’m sorry,” Atsushi said once again, yet it seemed like Issay was already sick of those words as he stood up again and walked away without saying another word, disappearing into the backyard.

“Do you want me to try to talk to him?” Toll asked as they all watched him leave.

“No, let him cool down for a bit,” Atsushi returned, Issay clearly needed some time alone. “Um, by the way, does my brother know anything about this?”

“No, we decided to keep him out of it, for as far as he knows you are at home busy with work,” Imai replied.

“Good, let’s keep it that way, I don’t want him to know anything about this. Let’s just keep this between us who already know about it and nobody else,” Atsushi then suggested, and the nods that came from the others showed that they already had planned to keep it this way.

The five of them talked for a while, about anything that came to mind as they decided to forget about Atsushi’s, not very smart, decision for now. The rest of them felt like they could not say anything about it anyway, they could not even imagine what they would have done themselves in that situation.

About half an hour passed and Issay had still not returned, by now Atsushi seemed to become tired. A yawn escaped his mouth every now and then as he struggled to keep his eyes open, he was also leaning into the couch, he clearly wanted to lie down yet likely felt as if he had to stay up.

“You are tired, aren’t you?” Toll eventually asked, the time to leave seemed to have arrived.

“Hm, a bit,” Atsushi replied, sitting up straight again as if to prove he was alright.

“Yeah, you are, I think it would be time for us to go,” Toll returned as he thought about something, “or… do you want us to stay until Issay-san comes back?”

“No, it’ll be fine, I’ll talk to him later,” Atsushi answered, it would probably be better if he talked to Issay in private.

“Alright,” Toll then said as he stood up again, the rest of the guys followed, leaving only Atsushi seated. They all bent down once again to give Atsushi one last hug as they told him goodbye. They then walked themselves to the door, putting their shoes and coats back on. As Atsushi heard the door close he lay back down onto the couch, soon falling asleep.


	8. Confession.

Once Atsushi opened his eyes, the room had gotten darker, and as he looked outside through the window he could see the moon and the stars. Looking over at the clock, he then realized it was already past eleven. Atsushi also noticed the blanket that had been put over him again, he had left it as he fell asleep, so Issay must have put it back over him. Where even was Issay right now? As Atsushi sat up he looked around him, yet could not see the older man anywhere.

Atsushi did not feel good about the fact that Issay was still gone, or rather, gone again, as he had clearly returned previously, the blanket was proof of that. Considering the time, Atsushi also wondered whether Issay had already eaten dinner, and if yes, then why had he not woken him? Was he really still that mad?

Unable to set these thoughts aside, Atsushi decided to try to stand up, slowly. His legs still felt weak, yet strong enough to keep him from falling over as long as he did not move too fast. He was still quite out of balance, and somewhat dizzy, and thus he decided to lean against the wall as he slowly made his way throughout the house.

He did, however, not get far as the noise of the metal chain could be heard throughout the entire house, and soon the sound of a door opening upstairs caught his attention, causing him to stop walking. Leaning against the wall as he heard footsteps descending the stairs, he saw Issay coming down.

“What are you doing?” the older man asked, standing in front of Atsushi.

“Looking for you,” Atsushi returned, he felt like he was going to collapse, just standing there, it seemed like walking was still too much after all.

“Just yell, I’ll hear you,” Issay then mentioned as he noticed how Atsushi had trouble staying on his feet, his legs were shaking and it did not take long before Atsushi started to sink to the floor. Issay was luckily able to catch him before he could reach the ground, he picked the younger man up in his arms as he carried him back to the couch, laying him down.

“You shouldn’t be walking yet,” Issay commented as he pulled the blanket back over Atsushi, “we already noticed that you weren’t ready for that yet this morning.”

“It’s going slightly better,” Atsushi returned, earlier he could not even stand up, and now he did manage to walk a few meters.

“Still, you should stay careful.”

“What were you doing?” Atsushi asked, changing the subject as he sat up, keeping his legs on the couch while he rested against the arm rest.

Issay shrugged as he sat down in the chair, “just doing some writing, I still have some things to work on.”

“Couldn’t you do that here?” Atsushi then asked, looking at Issay, yet the older man avoided his gaze.

“Maybe, I just needed some time to think, some time alone,” Issay returned before taking a deep breath, “and up there, while doing some writing, I have had time to think, and I want to say that I’m sorry.”

“Hm? For what?”

“First of all, for screaming at you, I shouldn’t have become so angry. And second of all, for not realizing that in a situation like that, you will do whatever you feel is right. You wanted to protect that woman and did not think about the consequences. I still think it was a dumb move, but I should not expect you to have been able to think clearly in that situation, especially considering the fact that you had been drinking as well, I forgot that for a moment.”

“It’s alright, I should have told you earlier anyway,” Atsushi then mentioned, still feeling guilty about it.

“Yes, that would have been nice. But it was the middle of the night, I can understand that you would not want to bring that up then.”

“I should have told you this morning, but I didn’t think about it.”

Issay just shook his head, “I understand you have a lot on your mind. Let’s just forget about it, we can’t change anything about it anyway, and I don’t want this to stand in the way of our friendship.”

“You’re right, I don’t want to lose you over something like this.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t let that happen,” Issay promised as he stood up. Atsushi removed his legs from the couch as Issay took a seat next to him. The older man then wrapped his arms around Atsushi, pressing him against his body. Atsushi rested his head on Issay’s shoulder as he wrapped his own arms around the older man’s waist.

As they held each other for a few seconds, Atsushi’s stomach suddenly started to growl, and at that the two let go of each other.

Issay let out a soft laugh, “shall I make you something to eat?”

“Uh, I am a bit hungry yeah… And, now that we talk about that anyway, why didn’t you wake me up earlier? It’s so late now.”

“I was upstairs almost all evening, I didn’t even realize how late it already was.”

“What? Did you not eat then?” Atsushi now asked. Issay shook his head in reply, after he came back inside, he pulled that blanket over Atsushi and went straight upstairs, not coming back down until he heard that Atsushi was awake. “Why not?”

“I didn’t feel like eating, and I was distracted, if I had realized it was this late I would have woken you. But before it gets any later, I’ll make you something,” Issay said in response as he stood up, walking towards the kitchen.

It took only a few minutes for Issay to return to the living room with a bowl of food and a glass of water, he placed them down onto the table in front of Atsushi, who thanked him. Issay then sat back down in his chair as Atsushi started to eat.

“Don’t you want anything?” Atsushi asked as he noticed Issay had only made food for him.

“No, it’s late and I’m not necessarily that hungry.”

“Have you eaten enough today then?” Atsushi asked next, he had only seen Issay eat something this morning.

“Yeah, I had breakfast with you, a late breakfast. And a bit after Yoshida left and you had fallen asleep I ate something as well. It’ll be fine for today, I haven’t done much either so I don’t need much.”

“Hm, alright then,” Atsushi simply commented as he continued eating. Issay turned on the television in the meantime to have some noise in the background.

Once Atsushi had finished his dinner, Issay brought the empty bowl and glass to the kitchen, placing them down into the sink and leaving them there. For just one bowl and a cup he did not feel like having to do the dishes, he could just as well do that tomorrow as there would be more to clean by then. And thus he returned to the living room, sitting down in that chair again as he stared at the television.

“Issay-san?” Atsushi eventually asked after several minutes of silence.

“Yes?” Issay simply returned, looking over at Atsushi and noticing he did not look back.

“There is one more thing I should tell you,” the younger man then said. He looked somewhat nervous, his face heated up and Issay could hear the younger man’s heartbeat going faster.

“What? More?” Issay replied, he thought everything had been said by now, he did not expect there to be more.

“Don’t worry it doesn’t have anything to do with what we discussed earlier. It’s just… something that has been on my mind for a long time now, and I don’t know what to do with it.”

“What is it?” Issay asked in return, he did not know whether to be more or less worried after that, it seemed like whatever it was, it was quite serious.

“Well, I, uh…” was all Atsushi managed to get out, it seemed to be quite hard for him to say what he wanted to say.

“Just say it Atsushi-kun, don’t think about it, just say it,” Issay commented, hoping it would give his friend some confidence. Atsushi nodded as he opened his mouth, wanting to speak, yet not a single sound followed.

At this, Issay decided to sit down on the couch, next to Atsushi, placing a hand on the younger man’s shoulder. “What are you afraid of?”

“I don’t want to lose you,” Atsushi softly spoke, biting on his lower lip.

“Why would that happen? After what we went through earlier I think it should now be clear that I won’t just walk away from you, at least, not for long.”

“I know, but this might make things awkward.”

“Atsushi-kun, you are only making me more curious now,” Issay said as he slid his hand over to Atsushi’s other shoulder, pulling him slightly against himself into a small embrace. In reply, Atsushi just rested his head on Issay’s shoulder once again, it seemed like Issay did not mind it, yet Atsushi’s heartbeat sounded even faster now, he felt like he could explode.

“You really are stressing out over it huh?” Issay commented as Atsushi did not reply. Issay then placed his free hand against the younger man’s chest, he could feel his heart beating with ease, it beat so fast that no pressure was needed to notice it, “wow.”

“Yeah yeah I know, I can’t help that either,” Atsushi returned, shoving Issay’s hand away as he hid his face from view.

“Sorry. But, just say it Atsushi-kun, only then you’ll be able to find out what I think.”

“Right, well…” Atsushi started, sitting back up to look Issay into his eyes, yet that seemed to make it even more difficult to speak.

As Atsushi stared into Issay’s eyes, it was as if he lost control as he suddenly leaned in, pressing his lips against Issay’s as he closed his eyes. He soon realized what he was doing, and he was afraid of Issay’s reaction, but as the older man kissed him back, he felt a sense of relief.

Once Atsushi pulled back, he looked down for a moment before he could get himself to look at Issay, seeing his confused expression. Even though Issay had not pulled away, even though he kissed him back, that expression made Atsushi unsure about what he had done, and thus he looked away again, letting his hair cover his face as much as possible.

“I didn’t know you were into men,” Issay eventually said.

“Well, I wasn’t sure about it, but, I just… want to be with you.”

“You said this was something that had been on your mind for a while?”

“Yes, I um…” Atsushi started, still avoiding Issay’s gaze, “I had this odd feeling about you for a long time, I loved you, that was for sure, but it wasn’t the same as I loved my other friends, you were different.”

“And you did not realize what that meant?”

Atsushi shook his head in reply, “the thing is, you are someone I look up to, someone I would want to be like, I respect you, your talent, your work, I thought this feeling could maybe just be… that I loved you as an idol.”

Atsushi had gotten quite a blush on his cheeks as he admitted these things, much worse than before. It was barely visible underneath that curtain of hair, yet Issay did manage to notice it. Issay himself could feel his own face heating up as well at these compliments.

“Oh you,” the older man then said, smiling, “thank you though, that’s nice of you to say.”

“Sorry, I am only making this more awkward. It’s just… I always want to be close to you, yet whenever I am I’m always so nervous, even though I’ve known you for years now, even though I do see you as a friend. I thought it was because I still looked up to you so much, but… no I’m sure of it now, I just love you.”

“I wonder… It all sounds obvious enough to me when you say it like that, did you really not realize it? Or did you want to deny it? Did you want to believe it was something else?”

“What do you mean?” Atsushi asked in reply, now finally looking up again.

“It sounds like you were looking for an excuse to dismiss those feelings.”

“No, I just thought I could only like women that way, I had never felt such a thing for a man before, so I thought it was maybe something else since I already looked differently at you compared to my other friends. I wanted to be sure it wasn’t just something else before acting on those feelings. If I really did not want to love you I would not have brought it up.”

“Oh, alright,” Issay then said, pleased with the younger man’s answer.

“But, those are my feelings… what do you think about it?”

“Well, in all honesty, I’ve liked you for a long time as well,” Issay admitted, causing Atsushi to raise his eyebrow. “But I was certain you were only into women, so I did try to suppress those feelings as I did not want to bother you with it. If I had known there was a chance I would have definitely made a move.”

“Well, considering that I was unsure, it would have probably been hopeless even if you would have told me,” Atsushi commented, looking away once again.

“Perhaps, but it could have also ended up in us giving it a chance and figuring it out together.”

“Hm, maybe,” Atsushi just simply said, he did not know anymore.

“We can’t change the past, but we can decide on what future we want,” Issay then suddenly said as he placed his hand on the younger man’s cheek, making him look at him. Next, Issay leaned in, pressing his lips against Atsushi’s as he slid his tongue inside his mouth, tasting him.

Atsushi rested his hand on Issay’s thigh, closing his eyes as he enjoyed this moment. He had already noticed that Issay had been smoking, he could smell it, yet at this very moment he could also taste it, he did not mind it however. As they pulled apart, Issay removed his hand from the younger man’s face as Atsushi too retreated his hand. Looking at each other, they just smiled.

“Now that I’m thinking about it, I did often notice your heart speeding up whenever we met,” Issay suddenly mentioned, it was hard to ignore with his sense of hearing after all.

“And you didn’t think anything of that?” Atsushi asked in return, embarrassed at the fact that Issay could notice that so well.

“Well, considering how shy you are, I thought it could be anything,” Issay explained, and he was not necessarily wrong. “But besides that, you also never complained about me washing you.”

“Yeah, but that is more because I don’t have the energy to do it myself,” Atsushi explained as a smile appeared onto his face. “However, I do indeed not mind it when you run your hands all over me.”

“Oh, so you don’t mind it when I touch you huh,” Issay then said as he wrapped his arm around Atsushi again, pulling him close as he casually slid his other hand underneath the yukata, onto the younger man’s bare thigh, massaging him lightly. Atsushi rested his head onto Issay’s shoulder again, pulling his legs over Issay’s lap as he enjoyed the touches, this did cause the bottom of the yukata to fall off of his legs.

Atsushi eventually decided to slide his hand underneath the older man’s shirt, sliding it up until he managed to pull it off of him. Atsushi then tossed that shirt onto the table as he rested back against Issay, directly against his warm skin. He slowly ran his hand over Issay’s chest, occasionally brushing over his nipple.

“Don’t hope for too much now,” Issay suddenly said, receiving nothing more than a questioning hum from the younger man. “I won’t be going far with you just yet, you need to rest.”

“It’s fine, I don’t really have the energy for that kind of activity yet anyway. I would maybe even fall asleep halfway.”

Issay just laughed at that, “that would be awkward.”

“Mhm, but this is good too,” Atsushi then said, nuzzling against Issay.

“I’m glad you like it,” Issay responded as a yawn escaped his mouth.

“Are you tired?” Atsushi asked, looking up at Issay.

“Yeah, felt like a long day,” Issay said in reply. It was also already past the midnight hour.

“Aw too bad, let’s go to sleep then,” Atsushi just returned, sad since the massage had only just started. Yet, he too was already starting to feel drowsy, he had slept nearly all day, but it did not give him much energy.

Issay just smiled softly, “I’ll continue in bed.” 

Atsushi gave Issay one more kiss before the older man stood up, holding Atsushi into his arms as he did so, picking him up. He then walked over to the bathroom with him, they brushed their teeth and both decided to use the toilet before Issay carried Atsushi over to the basement, laying him down onto the futon.

Issay then undid the shackles around Atsushi’s ankles before helping him undress, and as Atsushi lay there naked, Issay wrapped a diaper around his hips once again. Atsushi still did not say anything about it, yet that look on his face gave away all his thoughts.

“You don’t approve of this huh?” Issay said with a slight laugh.

“Of course not, but if you say it’s necessary…”

“Well, considering last night…”

“Yeah I know,” Atsushi returned as his cheeks slightly heated up in shame.

“Don’t let it bother you, you can’t help it.”

“I know,” Atsushi said in response, but he could also not help it that he felt embarrassed about it. “But… I sleep a lot during the day too, won’t it be necessary then as well?”

“Hm, those are naps, you sleep lighter during the day and less long, so I assumed you would wake up if you needed to use the toilet, which you did, I had to help you several times today,” Issay commented. Atsushi had indeed woken up when he needed to go, and managed to hold it in until Issay got him to the toilet. “But, you can wear them during the day too, if you prefer that.”

“Prefer is not the right word. I prefer not to wear this at all, but what if I get that bad dream during the day and it happens again?”

“Then I’ll have to clean a couch, I’m glad it’s leather,” Issay simply answered with a slight laugh.

“Not only a couch…” Atsushi commented, Issay would also have to clean him, his clothes, maybe the floor.

“I can put a diaper on you during the day as well if you don’t trust your body yet,” Issay then said as he moved over to the chain that connected to the pole, tying up Atsushi by his leg again, another thing he clearly hated.

“I don’t know, I just don’t want to ruin your couch,” Atsushi repeated, he preferred not to wear that diaper at all, yet he did not want to end up with an accident during the day either, that would be even more embarrassing.

“We’ll see what we do in the morning,” Issay returned as he undid his belt and opened his pants, pulled them down before he put them aside. Leaving him in only his underwear as his shirt was still on the living room table. “Would you mind it if I took it all off? I normally sleep naked, it’s more comfortable.”

“You won’t hear me complain,” Atsushi returned with a smile.

Issay just smiled back at him as he got rid of his underwear as well before he lay down next to Atsushi. The younger man then decided to rest his head and arm on top of Issay’s chest, somewhat continuing their position on the couch earlier, yet slightly different as they lay in bed right now. Issay decided to just continue massaging him, as he promised, running his hand over Atsushi’s back this time.

“Good night,” Issay then said as he quickly kissed Atsushi on his head.

“Good night,” Atsushi returned, crawling up slightly to kiss Issay on his lips before he lay his head back onto his chest. They both soon fell asleep.


	9. Home.

Several more days had passed in which Issay continued to take care of Atsushi in every way he needed. Until today, they had decided to keep Atsushi in a diaper, even during the day, as the younger man was worried about possible accidents. Yet, it seemed to have been unnecessary as Atsushi had not had another accident since that dream, it seemed like the dream itself had not returned at all either.

As the two men woke up this morning, they once again tested Atsushi’s ability to walk. It was going much better already, in fact, he was able to stand without losing his balance, he was not fully stable just yet but this was quite an improvement. As the younger man set a few steps, they noticed that even this was going well, the end of Atsushi’s recovery might be getting near.

A few days ago, Issay had called one of his band members to deliver some groceries, as Issay felt like leaving Atsushi on his own would not be a good idea just yet. However, as the days passed by they now found themselves low on groceries once again. The fact that Atsushi was now able to walk, and thus able to take care of himself, made Issay decide to do the shopping himself.

“I’ll be back soon, you should be fine on your own for a bit, right?” Issay asked, putting on his shoes and coat.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” Atsushi replied, smiling.

“Good, I’ll go to the store, get whatever we need and then I’ll come back, it won’t take more than an hour,” Issay then said, he preferred not to leave as there would be no one to help Atsushi if something was to go wrong. Yet, Atsushi insisted that it would be fine, and Issay knows that Atsushi is not completely helpless, it’s not like he is an invalid. He can walk, it should be fine.

“I know, don’t worry about me I won’t do anything stupid,” Atsushi commented with a slight laugh.

Issay just smiled as he placed the palm of his hand against the younger man’s cheek, “I know.”

After giving Atsushi one quick kiss on his lips, Issay left the house, and Atsushi was now on his own. The younger man walked back into the living room, the place immediately felt empty as Issay had left. It was odd, Atsushi was often alone at home and he never had any trouble with it, yet ever since that night, he simply did not want to be alone, he felt uncomfortable in this solitude silence.

“It’ll only be an hour, at most,” Atsushi whispered to himself as he thought about what to do. Sitting on the couch and waiting for Issay to come back was not an option, that would only cause him to stress out. Atsushi walked around the room for a bit, just walking in circles as he thought, yet that metal chain between his feet, that noise it made. Atsushi had been listening to that noise for days and it did not get any less annoying, it was so distracting.

Yet, as he was walking around, he realized that that was what he wanted to do, just go for a walk. However, that chain made him not want to move at all. He had hoped that in the past few days, he would have gotten used to it, and somehow he did as the feeling of the metal on his legs no longer bothered him, he almost did not feel it at all anymore, but that noise, it did not get any less bad.

Atsushi eventually decided to walk over to Issay’s book shelves, taking a look through the many books there. He had already read a few of them in the past days as simply watching television became boring quick enough. As Atsushi had one of the books in his hands, he read the backside, it seemed to be interesting enough and thus he sat down on the couch. With this book he should be able to waste the time until Issay would come back.

\--

It took about forty minutes before Atsushi heard the door open and soon saw Issay entering the room, a bag of groceries in his hand. After a simple greeting, Issay walked over to the kitchen, disposing of the items before he returned to Atsushi and sat down next to him on the couch. Atsushi now put the book down onto the table, the time had passed by quite quickly as he read.

“How was it? Some time alone,” Issay asked, looking over at the younger man.

“Not too bad, but I prefer to have you around.”

At this, Issay softly smiled as he wrapped his arm around the younger man and pulled him closer, “Faced some struggles?”

“Not necessarily,” Atsushi returned, shrugging as he leaned against Issay, “it’s just… I feel more relaxed with you around.”

“I see, why is that? What are you worrying about?”

“I don’t know, I still don’t want to be alone, but I’ll have to be sometimes, that’s just the way it is,” Atsushi mentioned, he felt so stupid.

“It’s alright,” Issay said in response as he slowly stroked Atsushi’s arm, massaging him. “I’m sure that transformation process is also haunting you in the back of your mind, isn’t it?”

Atsushi nodded to this, “what if it starts without you around?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll never be gone for long. But if it does, you’ll have to hold on for a bit. You shouldn’t worry about it too much though, small changes happen first, so as long as nothing weird is going on with your eyesight or your hearing or anything, it’s fine.”

“Oh, so far I’m not noticing anything yet.”

“You can only really walk since today, give it a little bit more time, I already noticed the transformation is a bit slow with you.”

Atsushi was silent for a second before he looked Issay in the eye, “is that a good or bad thing?”

“Neither,” Issay simply shrugged, “it’s just quick on some people, slow on others, but in the end it doesn’t really matter. With you it’s close to average but slightly on the slow side, it’s fine.”

“I see,” Atsushi returned, resting his head onto Issay’s shoulder, “then, there isn’t really anything to worry about right now.”

Issay let out a small laugh as he heard those words, “you almost sound disappointed at that.”

“Well I don’t mean it like that, it’s just… I keep feeling stressed but I don’t know if that upcoming transformation is really the only cause of it, like, what if I can’t be on my own anymore?”

“What do you mean?” Issay asked in return, slightly confused as to where Atsushi was going now.

“I mean… ever since I woke up a few days ago, I have been feeling uneasy whenever I’m alone. What if that feeling won’t go away?”

“Hm, well, even after you have fully transformed there will probably still be things you have questions about or things you struggle with,” Issay returned as he got an idea, “so… it might be better if you stay here, then I can help you with everything you need.”

Atsushi shook his head, “that’s not a solution, I don’t want to feel afraid whenever I’m alone.”

“Therapy?” Issay then simply returned, they had talked about that before, yet also quickly dismissed it earlier.

“Will that really help in this situation?”

“I think it will, if your fear is based on that night, then talking about that to a professional might help.”

Atsushi let out a sigh, “maybe, I’ll consider it again, let’s first see how it will go after all of this has ended.”

“Alright, take your time,” Issay then said as he gave Atsushi a kiss on his head. “But my offer still stands, you are welcome to stay.”

“That’s nice of you but I don’t want to bother you-”

“Stop,” Issay interrupted, “you are not a bother and you will never be. But you know what? Let me say this differently,” he then added, letting go of Atsushi to turn his head towards him, looking him into his eyes. “Come live with me, sell your home and come live with me.”

“What?” was all Atsushi said in reply, confused at Issay’s words.

“Come live here with me, I’d love to have you around, to come home to you,” Issay clarified, smiling at the younger man.

Atsushi remained silent for a moment, “we’ve only been together for a few days now.”

“Yes, but we’ve known each other for years, I would love to spend every single day with you from now on.”

Atsushi now smiled back at Issay, nodding as he leaned back against him, “in that case, I guess I’m home.”

Issay smiled as he placed one hand onto the younger man’s cheek, making Atsushi look at him as he kissed him onto his lips. Once he let go, they just looked each other in the eye, both smiling.

“Will you help me to sell my house then? And to move some of my stuff here?”

“Of course, but let’s not rush it. We can better start with that once you have completely changed, otherwise we’ll be in the middle of it and then we’ll have to deal with everything at once.”

“Yes I know, there is no need to rush,” Atsushi agreed, laying his head on top of Issay’s shoulder yet again.

As still as Atsushi tried to sit, he occasionally ended up moving his legs, causing that chain to tinkle. Atsushi sighed as he heard it happen once again, as much as he had tried to ignore it over the past days, it only seemed to get more and more annoying with the minute. “Does it not bother you?”

“What?” Issay returned, he did not seem to understand what the younger man meant.

“That chain, if I move even one toe the entire neighborhood will know,” Atsushi clarified, moving his leg on purpose once, as if to prove a point.

Issay just laughed, “the noise is a bit annoying yeah, but to me it’s not that bad.”

“I can’t stand it any longer, don’t you have anything else you can use instead?”

“Sadly, I don’t, if I did I would have already switched to it.”

Atsushi just hummed in a way that proved that he was not happy with this reply, yet he did not say another word about it.

“I’m sorry,” Issay then said as he noticed the younger man’s annoyance, “I had hoped you would have gotten used to it by now, that it would not cause any trouble later on.”

“Well it’s less bad in the sense that I hardly feel it any longer, the only thing that keeps reminding me of it is that noise.”

“Maybe you simply notice it so much because the room is silent so often? Maybe it will be less bad if we listen to more music during the day?”

“Maybe,” Atsushi returned, maybe using other sounds, like music, as distraction would work indeed. “But, I want to ask you something else as well first.”

“Hm? What is it?” Issay said in response, he had already let go of Atsushi, about to stand up, yet now sat back as he waited for Atsushi’s question.

“Is it possible to go take a walk?”

“A walk? Where do you want to go?” Issay asked in reply, this did not answer the question however.

“I don’t know, I just want to go take a walk, now that I can walk again. I've been sitting here for days.”

“I understand,” Issay then said, thinking about it for a minute. “Hm, I guess we could try to take a small walk through the woods.”

“The woods?”

“Yeah, a nice walk through the forest, or… don’t you want to be in a forest anymore, since…” Issay now asked, realizing it might not be a good place to go to after all.

“It shouldn’t matter, a forest walk might be nice.”

“Alright, however I don’t know how we should do this, I can’t have you walking around in those out there,” Issay mentioned, signing at the metal cuffs around the younger man’s ankles. Atsushi decided not to reply, giving Issay a moment to think about it.

“Oh whatever, for just a little while it’ll be fine,” Issay then added. “However, maybe it’s better to go tonight, when there are less people around.”

“Alright, I can wait a little bit longer,” Atsushi returned with a sigh, a bit of a playful one.

“For now I’ll just turn on some music then,” Issay commented with a small laugh, standing up from the couch to kill the background silence.


	10. Breather.

“Are you alright?” Issay asked as he held on to Atsushi’s hand. He had noticed that the younger man had started to walk slower in time.

“Yeah, my legs are just feeling a bit sore.”

“That’s normal, you haven’t really walked in while after all.”

“I know, do you mind walking a bit slower?”

“Of course not! We’ll go as slow as you need, take your time.”

As they continued walking for several minutes, Atsushi eventually started to struggle with his balance. It seemed like he was trying to hide it, he did not want Issay to notice, yet, it soon became obvious to the older man. “Come, let’s take a seat,” Issay then said, walking Atsushi over towards a wooden bench where they both sat down.

“Despite the pain in your legs, how is it, being outside again?” Issay asked.

“It’s very nice, finally being able to breathe in some fresh air, to feel the wind.”

Issay smiled as he saw how happy Atsushi seemed to be right now, and almost automatically he wrapped his arm around the younger man. As they turned their faces towards each other, looking each other in the eye, they both simply smiled as they leaned in, giving each other a quick kiss before they averted their gazes again, yet their smiles did not disappear.

“Acchan, look up,” Issay eventually said, and as Atsushi looked up at the sky he immediately noticed what Issay wanted him to see. The sky was so clear this evening, it made the stars look even brighter than usual, and besides that there was a beautiful full moon.

As they looked up at the sky together, Issay could not help but soon look over at Atsushi instead. Atsushi could see this from the corner of his eye, and as much as he wanted to look up at the stars, he could not help but be distracted by Issay’s stare. Unable to ignore it, Atsushi just turned his head, staring back at Issay, who still just smiled at him.

They did not speak, they just continued to smile at each other, as if speaking telepathically, until Issay eventually pulled Atsushi a bit closer to him and rested his head onto the younger man’s shoulder. Atsushi just wrapped his own arm around Issay’s waist in reply, looking back up at the sky. However, as he did so, he soon noticed the raindrops that fell from the heavens, and even despite the fact that it started off calmly, the rain soon started to pour down.

“Really, now?” Issay commented as he sat up again, opening the umbrella that he had, luckily, brought along and holding it above himself and Atsushi.

“Timing couldn’t have been better,” Atsushi sarcastically returned, letting out a sigh.

“Well, shall we go back then?”

“Yeah, it’s been enough of a walk anyway,” Atsushi replied, his legs had already started to hurt after all.

As the two men stood up, Issay made sure to keep the umbrella above both of them, and to keep this easy, Atsushi decided to stay as close to Issay as possible, holding on to the older man’s arm as they made their way back home.

\--

Once back, the rain had not stopped, it seemed like there might be a storm coming tonight. Issay and Atsushi had managed to stay mostly dry along the way back, a few drops had landed on them, but it was not like they were dripping onto the floor right now. Taking off their coats and shoes, the two men made their way into the living room.

“It’s pretty late now,” Issay mentioned as he looked over at the clock, they had left the house at a late time, but their walk had taken quite a while as well. Which made sense as they walked quite slowly, especially on the way back. “Do you want to go to sleep already?”

“Hm, I’m not necessarily tired yet, are you?”

“No, not really, is there anything else you want to do?”

“Well, now that you mention it,” Atsushi started, smiling mischievously as he placed his hand onto Issay’s chest, “we could go have some fun.”

“That’s not even a bad idea,” Issay replied, smiling back at Atsushi, “how about we go brush our teeth, then have some fun downstairs, and go to sleep afterwards?”

“Sounds like a perfect plan to me,” Atsushi said in response before he quickly kissed Issay on his lips. The two then made their way over to the bathroom, quickly brushing their teeth.

Once they reached the basement, they immediately wrapped their arms around each other, pressing their lips together before parting them and pushing their tongues into each other’s mouths, tasting each other. Issay soon decided to pull Atsushi’s shirt over his head, only stopping the kiss where absolutely necessary before continuing and blindly tossing that shirt aside. Atsushi soon followed by undoing the buttons of Issay’s shirt, taking it off and throwing it onto the floor.

Eyes closed, unwilling to end their kiss, Issay grabbed Atsushi by his rear, pushing the younger man’s hips towards his own as they started to grind their crotches together. Issay squeezed Atsushi’s butt as Atsushi ran his own hands through Issay’s hair and over his back, their chests pushed together. It did not take long for the two of them to start growing hard.

Issay eventually brought his hands to the front of the younger man’s pants, undoing his belt and opening it. With the inside of his hand, he then started to palm the bulge inside of Atsushi’s underwear as he brought his face to Atsushi’s neck, kissing him there, licking him. Atsushi softly moaned, continuing to run his hand through Issay’s hair.

The pleasure made Atsushi feel somewhat lightheaded, his heartbeat sped up and his legs grew weaker as he lost his balance. Issay was luckily quick to notice it as he held on to Atsushi, preventing him from falling over.

“Are you okay?” Issay asked as he held the younger man in his arms.

Atsushi just wrapped his arms around Issay’s neck, holding on to him for support. “Yeah, maybe just been standing a bit too much today.”

“Lie down,” Issay then said in reply, placing Atsushi down onto the futon. “Do you want to stop?”

“No, not at all, I’m fine, really,” Atsushi returned, he was already hard now, he was not planning to have this end soon.

“Alright, but you will tell me if it’s too much yeah? We’ll stop if you need to,” Issay now said, and to that Atsushi nodded. Issay then decided to pull down the younger man’s pants, sliding them off of his legs and placing them aside. His own pants soon followed, leaving them both in only their underwear. Next, Issay moved his face back into Atsushi’s neck, continuing what he was doing there previously as he used one hand to play with Atsushi’s nipple.

Atsushi continued to massage Issay’s back, moaning softly. Their crotches pressed against each other again, and Issay slowly moved his hips to cause some friction. The older man then eventually moved lower, kissing his way down Atsushi’s chest. For a slight moment he stopped at Atsushi’s nipple, running his tongue over it before he continued his way down.

Once Issay reached that last piece of clothing on Atsushi’s lower half, he sat up again. Issay then slipped his fingers underneath the rim of the younger man’s underwear, sliding them off and putting them away, leaving Atsushi completely naked as his erection jumped free. Wrapping his hand around it, Issay started to stroke him, slowly at first, and speeding up in time. He occasionally moved his hand over to Atsushi’s balls, kneading them, as he used his free hand to palm himself in the meantime.

As minutes passed by, and Atsushi’s moans had become somewhat louder, Issay bent over, bringing his face back down once again. He took the younger man’s balls in his mouth, sucking on them as he continued to stroke his length. Then, he pressed his tongue against the base of Atsushi’s cock, licking his way up to the tip. The two men kept direct eye contact as the tip of Issay’s tongue went over the slit, the younger man his eyes half lidded and his mouth slightly agape.

Issay now took Atsushi’s length in his mouth, starting to bob his head up and down as he continued to stroke him, occasionally switching to kneading his balls. Issay eventually retreated his hand and slowly took in the younger man’s cock further and further, until his nose came in contact with Atsushi’s public hair.

“Oh Jesus,” Atsushi spoke softly, receiving a questioning hum from Issay who looked up at him. “No, nothing… ignore me.”

As Issay sucked the younger man, he eventually moved his hand down to his own hardness, still contained by his underwear, palming himself again. After a few more minutes had passed, Issay sat up, finally removing his own underwear as well.

“Issay,” Atsushi suddenly started, causing the older man to look over at him, “how far are you willing to go?”

Issay just smiled at him, “what do you want?”

“I want to fuck you,” Atsushi returned with a slight blush on his cheeks.

“Oh, and how would you do that then? You nearly collapsed just a little while ago,” Issay returned, teasingly.

“Yeah? I also walked to a forest and back today, remember!” Atsushi said in reply, a slight growl present in his voice.

“Mhm, slowly, and with a break, since you struggled,” Issay then added, still sounding playful.

“Then just fuck me instead!”

Issay let out a mischievous little laugh, it almost sounded evil, “can’t, we still need to be careful with your body, remember?”

“Issay! Please, I’m fine, this is taking too long.”

Issay laughed at that, he enjoyed Atsushi’s annoyed reactions, and for a moment he considered making him beg for it… “Fine, I have an idea, but I keep the condoms in my bedroom, so… you’ll have to entertain yourself for a minute,” he then said, standing up and walking away.

It did not take long for Issay to return, a pack of condoms and a bottle of lube in his hand. As Issay looked over at the futon while entering the room, he could just catch a last glimpse of Atsushi touching himself before the younger man retreated his hand. “Oh don’t stop because of me, feel free to go on for a bit.”

“Yeah, that’s what you would like huh?” Atsushi returned, not doing what Issay was suggesting.

“Yes, I would,” Issay replied, sitting down onto the futon, “then I can work on myself in the meantime as well.”

“Hm? What exactly are you planning?”

“You wanted to fuck me right? Gotta make sure it’ll fit then.”

“I thought you wouldn’t let me?”

Issay just laughed for a second, “mhm, because I don’t want you to overdo it, but I have an idea that’ll keep you from overdoing it.”

“Oh, and what would that be?”

“You’ll find out soon enough, right now there is too much talking going on and not enough, eh… fucking,” Issay returned, causing Atsushi to laugh.

“I agree on that,” the younger man said in reply as he sat up, “but, don’t you want me to help you with that then, hm?”

“If you want to, sure,” Issay just replied, tossing the bottle of lube into the younger man’s hands before he lay down on his back. Atsushi opened the bottle, pouring the substance onto his fingers, he did not have to ask Issay to spread his legs as he already did that automatically. Atsushi started by running his index finger over Issay’s hole, teasing him slightly, before he pushed said finger inside, slowly moving it in and out.

Issay let out a few soft moans as he felt Atsushi’s finger inside of him, and once Atsushi noticed that Issay lost some of his tightness, he inserted a second finger, curling them inside of him, causing Issay to moan a bit louder, and using them to scissor him open further.

“Have you done this before?” Issay eventually asked in between his moans.

“No, I haven’t,” Atsushi replied, looking Issay into his eyes.

“Ah, born talent then,” Issay commented, the pleasure visible on his face.

Atsushi just smiled at that, “yeah? You like this?” He then added, thrusting his fingers into that one spot from which he noticed Issay moaned louder every time he did that, receiving just the expected reaction from the older man. “Sounds like you indeed do.”

“Ah!” Issay moaned as Atsushi made that movement inside of him once again, “oh fuck you.”

“Careful what you say,” Atsushi warned as he intentionally did it a third time, receiving that beautiful moan yet again. It caused Atsushi to laugh softly, he loved having this kind of control over Issay. The older man was now starting to blush, he felt slightly embarrassed about this, however, at the same time he was somewhat glad that Atsushi was having fun.

The younger man soon decided to push the third finger inside of Issay’s anus as well, thrusting them faster than before. Issay now moaned even louder, and he could not help but to touch himself in the meantime. Atsushi too decided to stroke himself as he both pleased Issay and watched him do the same.

Atsushi did not wait too long with retreating his fingers, receiving an annoyed groan from Issay. “Can’t have you coming already, we have just barely gotten started.”

“Right,” Issay simply replied as he watched how Atsushi started to fidget with the packaging of a condom, his fingers were too slippery to open it, which caused Issay to slightly laugh. “Let me do it.”

As Issay sat up, he took that package from Atsushi, opening it. Issay then decided to also roll that condom over the younger man’s erection, and to apply some extra lube to it. “Now, I’m taking over from here.”

“What?” Atsushi asked in reply, yet before he could even get a reaction, Issay pushed him down onto his back, positioning himself on top of the younger man.

“Like I said earlier, you still need to rest. So, just stay still and enjoy,” Issay returned with a wink as he sat down, pushing Atsushi’s cock into his ass and starting to ride him.

Atsushi placed his hands onto Issay’s thighs, just moaning as he drowned further and further into the pleasure, Issay too could not keep the noise down. However, as they were, first of all, inside, and second of all, underground, they also did not have to stay quiet.

After several minutes, Issay started to arch his back as he hissed in some sharp breaths, yet his movements grew slower. At this, Atsushi decided to change their positions, rolling over to have Issay lie underneath him as he started to thrust his hips fast, fucking him hard.

Issay continued to moan as he wrapped his arms around Atsushi’s back, holding him tightly, yet carefully as he did not want to hurt him with his nails. Atsushi too moaned loudly, and Issay soon arched his back yet again, letting out one last, loud, moan as he came onto his own chest. Atsushi was soon to follow, thrusting one last time, letting out one last moan, before he came inside of Issay, inside of the condom. As Atsushi pulled out, he immediately dropped down next to Issay.

“Are you okay?” Issay asked, still needing a moment to calm down himself.

“I’m great,” Atsushi just returned, smiling. Seeing that look onto the younger man’s face caused Issay to smile too. Issay eventually sat up again, hovering over Atsushi to share a deep kiss with him. Atsushi ran his hand through Issay’s hair until Issay decided to pull away. Next, Issay took that condom off of Atsushi before he stood up to throw it away.

Once Issay returned to the futon, he once again locked Atsushi’s leg into that shackle. As this was something that was done every night, Atsushi had become more used to it, there was nothing he could do but just accept it. Issay then lay back down, resting his head onto the younger man’s chest.

“Let’s go to sleep, I’m exhausted,” Issay mentioned, pulling the covers over them.

“So am I,” Atsushi returned, running his hand over Issay’s back as the two told each other good night, soon drifting to sleep together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will be the last chapter for now as this is all I have finished so far. But don't worry, I won't abandon this work. I have a few other things to work on in the meantime, but once I have time again I will continue with this story, new chapters will likely come soon enough.


	11. Sharing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I quickly fixed up another chapter as it was taking quite a while for something to be uploaded, I realize that. So, enjoy this chapter, cause the next one might take a while as well (not as long as this one took, however.)  
> \--  
> (Chapter had been edited as it uh... contained something that didn't make much sense considering the room they are in... but that's been fixed, sorry)

Taking a drag of his freshly lit cigarette, Atsushi enjoyed the cool night air. It was pretty dark out, however that proved to be no issue thanks to these brightly lit streets. Streetlights and multicolored neon signs illuminated nearly every corner of this town. Yet despite this being a perfect set up for those that truly live past midnight, there was nobody else around, it was oddly quiet.

As Atsushi’s cigarette burned up further and further, to the point where nothing was left to smoke, he threw it onto the ground, quickly pressing his shoe onto it. What now, what was he even doing out here? Fresh air, he just wanted some fresh air, he wanted to have a smoke, but now he still did not feel like going back inside. Yet, just standing here?…

Lost in his thoughts, Atsushi remained frozen on the spot, not moving a single muscle. That was, until he heard an odd noise coming from nearby. Was that a person? It somewhat sounded like a woman yelling, maybe a scream even? As curiosity filled Atsushi’s mind, he slowly started to walk. He was unsure as to where the noise had come from, yet, somehow it seemed like his feet knew where to go.

As Atsushi left the brightly lit main streets, he found himself entering a dark area, he could hardly see anything. Soon realizing that it was maybe not a good idea to enter this area, Atsushi turned around, wanting to return to the light, however, to his own surprise, he seemed to be lost. The light was nowhere to be seen, had he really walked this deep into the darkness? Where was he to go now? Which way was the way out?

As Atsushi started to feel uncomfortable, he heard that noise once again, it was louder this time. It really did sound like a scream, but something about it felt odd. Not that hearing a scream in the middle of the night would usually be normal, there was just something special about it, not because of how it sounded, but for the dread it made Atsushi feel inside of him.

Stepping further into the darkness, towards where the source of the sound seemed to have been, Atsushi eventually managed to make out a silhouette. There was actually something inside of this area, which at first seemed to be a void. Atsushi wanted to call out to it, yet found himself unable to form a single sound. Then suddenly, there were more silhouettes, they somewhat merged together, it was hard to tell just how many beings stood there.

It was almost like a shadow play, these creatures just moved around, disappearing into each other, and multiplying at will. Due to the lack of light it was hard to see, yet, this play was all but a happy one, as the sounds of soft sobbing tormented Atsushi’s ears. He wanted to walk up to these shadows, but something inside of him held him back, possibly the fear of the unknown, the mysterious.

As Atsushi managed to set one step back, planning to walk away slowly, these creatures ended their odd dance, staring directly at Atsushi as he froze in fear. Their bright red eyes seemed to be the only source of light around here, and that light shone right onto Atsushi’s face. It felt like these creatures were suddenly closer to him than he remembered them being.

He wanted to run, but his legs felt like stone, he could not move. And as these shadows approached him even further, so slowly, so threateningly, it was soon that one of them unexpectedly leaped at Atsushi, attacking him, working him to the ground without any trouble.

Atsushi gasped as he sat up, the darkness now way less dark, the shadows gone, and the floor… a futon. Looking next to him he saw Issay sitting up too, panting, sweating, did they both have a nightmare? That would be the weirdest coincidence. Issay quietly looked around him before his eyes met Atsushi’s, and just as they made eye contact, Issay seemed to be shocked yet again as he slightly flinched.

“What?” Atsushi spoke, surprised by Issay’s reaction.

“Your eyes,” Issay returned, not much of an answer.

“My eyes? What about my eyes?”

“They…” Issay started before falling silent for a few seconds, “wait here for a minute.”

As Issay stood up and walked away, Atsushi was left more than confused. His eyes? what could possibly be wrong with his eyes? Unless… Issay’s eyes were shining right now, probably as he would not be able to see otherwise. The basement had no windows, and no lights were on right now, yet despite that, Atsushi could see really well, could that mean?...

Once Issay returned, he held a small mirror in his hands, and as he kneeled down in front of Atsushi, he held that mirror in front of the younger man’s face. Atsushi could not believe what he saw, he could not believe his eyes, it was exactly what he had expected, yet it still felt unreal. Issay was not joking, his eyes shone orange, just like Issay’s did. Does this mean it has finally started?

“What? How?” Atsushi asked, slightly shocked.

“Don’t worry about it, it was bound to happen soon.”

Atsushi could not stop staring into that mirror, staring at his own eyes, “how do I… turn that off?”

“Um… I don’t know how to explain that, it’s just something you’ll eventually be able to do,” Issay returned as he stood up to put the mirror away before he sat back down next to Atsushi.

“So, is this it? Will it really start now?” Atsushi asked, receiving nothing but a nod from the older man. “So, the rest of the things you told me about, that will all follow very soon then? I can only just walk, isn’t this too fast?”

“Somewhere in these next few days all of that will likely start. But don’t worry about it too much, your senses will improve first, the rest will wait a little bit longer.”

“But it’ll still start soon, somewhere these next days is soon,” Atsushi returned, Issay could see he was afraid.

“Acchan, it was always soon to start, ever since you woke up that day. It has only been about a week since then, remember?” Issay said in reply, placing a hand against the younger man’s cheek, running his thumb over his skin.

“Well, yes, but…“

“Don’t worry about it, it won’t help, there is nothing we can do about it,” Issay then added, wrapping his arm around Atsushi’s shoulder, pressing him against his body. “The good part about it is, the sooner it starts, the sooner you’ll finally be through it all.”

Atsushi wrapped his arms around Issay’s waist, resting his head against the older man’s chest. “I did notice I could see really well right now.”

“It’s pretty useful to have that sight, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Atsushi simply returned, it felt pretty nice to be able to see so well in a room from which he knew it was dark, at least it was something positive about the situation.

“Let’s try to go back to sleep,” Issay then said as he kissed Atsushi on his head before lying back down, still holding the younger man in his arms.

“Issay?” Atsushi eventually spoke after several seconds of silence.

“Yes?”

“Did you have a nightmare before?” he asked as he now remembered how they had both awoken.

“Ah, yes, you did too, didn’t you?”

“Yes, isn’t that odd?”

“Well… I am afraid it is going to be even more odd.”

“What are you talking about?” Atsushi returned as he looked up at Issay, finding a worried expression. Sitting up again, Atsushi looked down at him, “Issay?”

“Can you tell me what the dream was about?”

A question as a reply to his question, not exactly what he was hoping for. “Um, yeah I heard some odd noise in a dark place, I walked towards it and found shadows playing around. As they saw me they attacked me and I woke up.”

“That noise was like a female scream, wasn’t it? And before you entered the darkness, the brightly lit street you left behind just suddenly disappeared.”

Atsushi’s mouth fell open at Issay’s words, “what?! How do you know?!” he spoke quite loudly, causing Issay to finally sit up again as well.

“I had the exact same dream,” the older man then explained, looking Atsushi right into his eyes.

“That is impossible!”

“No, it isn’t, not in our situation.”

“You haven’t mentioned anything about dream sharing!”

“That is because I forgot it was possible. Honestly I have never experienced it before, not that I know of at least… I thought it was just a myth.”

“A myth? What do you know?”

“Vampires with a blood relation like ours, somehow it causes us to have some sort of psychic connection, enabling us to occasionally share dreams, memories, sometimes even thoughts.”

“What? How is that possible?”

“I have no idea, really, I thought it was just a story made up by someone. I have never changed anyone before so I had never seen any proof of it, because of that I also simply forgot about it.”

“So… also memories, and even thoughts?”

“That’s what they said, I don’t know if that is true either, I guess we’ll see eventually,” Issay returned as he lay back down, stretching an arm out to the younger man.

Atsushi too lay back down, resting his head onto Issay’s chest again as he felt Issay’s arm crawl back around him, holding him as he gently massaged him. Issay then pulled the covers back over them, it was still in the middle of the night after all.

“Acchan?” Issay then suddenly asked.

“Yes?”

“This dream, was it about that night?”

“I think so, I’ve had several weird dreams like this.”

“Several? Since then? You haven’t mentioned anything since the first time, I thought it was the only one.”

Issay could feel the younger man shake his head against his chest, “no, this was… the fifth? Maybe.”

“The fifth? In only a bit more than a week? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“What would it matter? It’s not like you can just make it stop, so I decided not to bother you with it. I get enough rest anyway and it doesn’t happen every night. It also doesn’t… cause any side effects anymore,” Atsushi replied, referring to the accident he had after the first nightmare.

“Was that first dream like this too?”

“No, the first one was a bit more realistic, not exactly like that night though. That one actually did take place in the forest, but all the trees had faces. And the people, they didn’t look human there either. I remember they had completely black eyes, like demons, and one of them carried something sharp, which it stabbed me with as they all just laughed. It kept stabbing me, maybe twenty times before I finally woke up.”

“Jesus, how about the rest of the dreams?”

“I don’t clearly remember them all, there was one more where the trees had faces too, and as I ran through the forest, away from something that was chasing me, the trees grabbed on to me. I couldn’t move anymore, and then some sort of… animal? appeared in front of me, I think that was the thing that chased me. It used its long claws to pierce a hole in me, and as it started to rip me apart, I woke up.”

“You should’ve told me about these dreams.”

“Why? They’re just dreams, and I prefer not to think about them.”

“I understand that, but these really sound to be caused by trauma.”

“It doesn’t happen every night.”

“Have you had good dreams the other nights?”

“I don’t remember having dreamt anything those nights.”

“So all the dreams you have had were these dreams where something tried to kill you?”

“Issay, please, let’s just go back to sleep, I don’t want to think about it.”

Issay gave the younger man another kiss on his head as he continued rubbing his back, “we’ll talk about this in the morning.”


	12. Boredom.

Opening his eyes, Atsushi noticed it was now darker than when he woke up earlier, does that mean his eyes were normal again? Issay was not here right now, he was likely either making breakfast or making use of the bathroom. Atsushi searched for the lightswitch and turned on a lamp, he then decided to stand up, something he no longer struggled with.

Looking around him, he soon found that mirror standing on a nearby desk. It was not there yesterday evening, he was sure of that. So their conversation from last night really was not just another dream. Atsushi walked over to this mirror, the chain around his ankle was long enough to allow it. As he looked at his reflection, his thoughts were confirmed, his eyes were simply black.

The sound of the door opening soon reached Atsushi’s ears, and thus he turned around. He watched as Issay descended the stairs, just smiling at him, “are your eyes normal again?”

“Yeah,” Atsushi simply returned as Issay approached him, giving him a quick peck on the lips.

“Had any more nightmares?”

“No, nothing at all, luckily.”

“Alright, good, but we still need to talk about this-”

“We can do that later, I just woke up,” Atsushi quickly interrupted. He knew Issay would bring it up again, yet this was just too soon.

“I know, go take a shower first,” Issay commented as he got down onto one knee. With the key already in his hand, he undid the shackle around Atsushi’s ankle.

“You already have, haven’t you?” Atsushi asked in return.

“Yeah, you were still asleep so I decided to let you rest while I took a shower.”

“Hm, showering without me, I see how it is,” Atsushi then said, sounding somewhat offended as he held back a smile while he walked away. Grabbing his bag of clothes, he ascended the stairs and disappeared out of view.

Issay just put the chain away so nobody would trip over it as he searched for the other metal chain, which he had quickly dumped somewhere the night before. It took a minute before he seemed to process what Atsushi had just said. After a few seconds he turned towards the stairway with a confused expression. “… Wait what?”

\--

Once Atsushi had finished his shower, also having brushed his teeth, combed his hair and gotten dressed, he made his way over to the living room. Issay was in the kitchen, preparing breakfast for the two of them. As Issay was busy at the counter, Atsushi walked up behind him, wrapping his arms around the older man’s waist as he rested his chin on Issay’s shoulder.

“I haven’t even said good morning yet,” Atsushi spoke, causing Issay to let out a soft laugh.

“Good morning to you too, love,” Issay replied as he turned around, causing Atsushi to lift his head as Issay wrapped his arms around the younger man’s shoulders. Issay quickly pressed his lips against Atsushi’s before he turned back towards the counter.

“Need some help?” Atsushi asked, still holding him.

“Hm… you could grab something to drink for us.”

“Alright, what do you want and where do you want to eat?”

“Just some water and on the couch, thanks love.”

“Of course,” Atsushi replied as he let go of Issay, taking two glasses from the cabinet and filling them up. He had already gotten familiar with the kitchen in the days he had spent here, it really did feel like home already.

“Oh and,” Issay suddenly started as he turned to face Atsushi. He fished something out of his pocket and handed it over to the younger man.

“A key?” Atsushi asked as he looked at the item that had been placed in his hand.

“Yep,” Issay returned as he looked down at Atsushi’s feet, due to that Atsushi already understood which key this was. “They are on the salon table, do it yourself today, okay?”

Atsushi let out a small sigh as he put the key inside of his own pocket and picked up the two glasses. “Fine,” he then said as he quickly kissed Issay on the cheek before making his way back to the living room.

Once there, he placed the glasses down onto the salon table before picking up that chain he still had to wear every day. He could not believe Issay let him do this himself. But in the end, what does it matter, he would not be getting out of it anyway.

Sitting down onto the couch, Atsushi first placed one cuff around his left ankle, locking it there. Next up was the right side, and as he was done he placed the key down next to the older man’s glass. Issay entered the living room soon after, holding a tray which contained their breakfast.

Placing it down onto the table, Issay took a seat right next to Atsushi. The older man then quickly checked the chains, seeing if they were secured.

“What, don’t you trust me?” Atsushi asked as Issay pulled on those shackles.

“Of course I trust you, I just wanted to make sure,” Issay returned as he sat back up. “And I know you hate these things.”

“Yes, but I also realize it is important, so I won’t try anything.”

“I know darling, I just wanted to make sure, just in case you accidentally missed something or… I don’t know, I just wanted to make sure,” Issay repeated again as he picked up a bowl of food and handed it to Atsushi, who accepted it. Issay then too grabbed a bowl for himself as they started to eat their breakfast.

\--

The day once again passed by slowly, hours seemed to be longer when there was not much to do, nowhere to go. After their breakfast they had both been writing, Issay still had songs I had to finish and Atsushi too had gotten some ideas for new lyrics. Besides that they had also watched some television and listened to music to kill the silence.

Around the afternoon hour they decided to make their lunch together, to have at least something to do again. And afterwards they washed the dishes, it was better than doing nothing. Yet only a few minutes later they found themselves on the couch, Issay sitting on one end as Atsushi had lain himself down onto his side, his head resting on top of Issay’s lap as the older man stroked his hair in silence.

“I feel like an entire day has passed already,” Atsushi suddenly spoke, “yet the afternoon has only just started.”

Issay let out a sigh at that, “yeah I feel the same way, this will be another long day.”

“Is there really nothing we can do?”

“Hm… I could call some people and ask if they want to come over?”

“Yeah? Will that be alright?” Atsushi asked as he shifted onto his back in order to look up at Issay.

“Hm, considering that your transformation seems to be somewhat on the slow side, it’ll probably be fine. I’m willing to take the risk.” Issay replied as he looked down into the younger man’s eyes.

“But it’s still a risk huh?”

Issay shrugged at that, “have you noticed any changes since last night? Anything odd you’ve heard or smelled? Or noticed any sudden pains?”

“No, nothing.”

“Then I think it’ll be fine for today. And besides that, I’ll be nearby too.”

Atsushi just nodded at that, “alright, but who then?”

“Who would you like to see?”

“Hm… Imai, maybe? He could help out with what I wrote earlier.”

“Shall I call him?”

“Yeah.”

“Alright,” Issay said as he lifted Atsushi’s head, enabling himself to stand up. The younger man just let his head drop back against the pillow.

Atsushi lay back on the couch as he listened to the distant noises of the conversation, just not loud enough to be able to understand it. Just relaxing, his eyelids slowly grew heavier, until they closed and the noises grew more and more distant, yet never fully fading.

“He’ll be over in a few minutes,” Issay’s voice sounded as he made his way back towards the couch. Atsushi shot his eyes open at those words.

“Were you asleep?” Issay then asked as he noticed the younger man’s slight shifting.

“No, well… almost.”

Issay let out a small laugh at that reply, “don’t fall asleep darling, we’ll have visitors soon.”

“Visitors? Who else did you call?” Atsushi asked as Issay lifted the younger man’s legs to have a seat on the couch, letting Atsushi’s legs rest on his lap.

“Hal is coming over too,” Issay replied as he ran his hand over Atsushi’s lower leg, massaging him.

“Ah I see,” Atsushi simply said in return, he already found it quite a long phone call for only one person.

\--

It was about ten minutes later when the doorbell rang. Unsure of who would arrive first, Issay went to open the door as Atsushi remained on the couch. As Atsushi decided to sit up, he watched as Imai entered the living room, so he was the first to arrive.

“Are you tired?” Imai asked as he walked up to his friend.

“No, I was just bored,” Atsushi replied as he stood up and wrapped his arms around Imai’s waist, quickly resting his head on his shoulder as Imai pulled his own arms back around Atsushi before they let go of each other.

“How are you feeling?” Imai asked as he could now look Atsushi into his eyes again.

“Pretty good, it’s going a lot better already.”

“Yeah I can see that, you’re looking a lot better than the previous time I saw you.”

“Thanks,” Atsushi replied with a small smile, “so how are you?”

“I’m fine, been busy with the band, just figuring out what we can do until you come back.”

“Speaking of that, I’ve been trying to work on new lyrics today.”

“Seriously? Shouldn’t you rest?”

“It doesn’t cost that much energy, and I’m bored anyway,” Atsushi replied as movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention. Issay had finally come back from the hallway, together with Hal. Why did he stay there so long anyway? Had Hal already arrived earlier?

“Hey, how is it going?” Hal asked Atsushi as he entered the living room, Issay following behind him.

“I’m good, how are you?”

“Same, good to see you are alright.”

“Does anyone want anything to drink?” Issay interrupted, a question to which he received a collection of ‘no thanks.’

“Alright, then we’ll give you some privacy,” Issay then said as he nudged Hal with his elbow before looking at Atsushi. “If you need me, I’ll be upstairs.”

Atsushi just nodded at that as both Issay and Hal made their way up the stairs.

“What was that about?” Imai suddenly asked.

“I have no idea,” Atsushi simply returned. “But do you want to help out with these lyrics? Give opinions?”

“Yeah, sure.”

As Atsushi went to get the paper he had been working on, Imai sat down onto the couch. Once Atsushi returned he sat down next to his friend as he handed him the texts. Imai quietly took his time to read what the vocalist had been writing. 

“By the way, aren’t you getting sick of those chains?” Imai asked as he was halfway through reading.

“Yeah, to be honest I am, mostly just the sound it makes doesn’t get any less annoying.”

“Hm, Issay really won’t let you take them off huh? Even though they seem unnecessary at the moment.”

“No he won’t, he just wants to make sure he can’t forget about it once they become necessary, and he wants me to get used to them as much as possible so they’ll bother me less.”

“Well… how is it going with that process anyway? You can walk already, a few days ago you couldn’t even stand.”

“Yeah, it was hard to sit even, or stay awake. But I seem to have healed already, it might be time soon.”

“Has anything already happened?”

Atsushi turned his head to search for eye contact as he was asked that question. Noticing the gaze out of the corner of his eye, Imai looked back at him.

“Yes,” Atsushi then returned, a reply that seemed to worry the older man.

“In what way?”

“My eyes, they are changing, or… maybe they are already done?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Last night, I woke up and my eyes were glowing. I could see really well despite it still being pitch black.”

“Oh, does Issay know?”

“Yes, he does, he said it will all likely start soon.”

“And yet it was okay for me to come over?”

“Um… well nothing else has happened yet, it might even take a few more days since I’m apparently slow. But this is kind of a risk that we just decided to take.”

“Oh…”

“Yeah… so uh, what do you think?” Atsushi then asked as he gestured to the paper, changing the subject.

“Right,” Imai just said as he continued reading.

“This is good,” the older man eventually commented as he handed the paper back to Atsushi, “but it’s not finished yet, right?”

“Indeed, I’m kinda stuck at this part.”

“Hm, I can’t tell you how to continue just like this, what was the inspiration for these lyrics? Maybe we can think of something.”

“Ah yeah, and maybe it’s useful to write some things down along the way. Let’s take a seat at the dinner table, then I’ll tell you about it, it’s easier to write there.”

“Alright,” Imai simply returned as he followed Atsushi towards the dining table. Sitting down with him, they discussed the idea for the song and wrote down anything that came to mind.


	13. Chaos.

Time suddenly went fast as Atsushi and Imai had been working together, writing down ideas to the point where they now had several pieces of paper with text. They still had to figure out what they would and would not want to use in the end, they could possibly even write multiple songs out of this. But at least they had made progress.

It all seemed to be going great. Ideas came rather quickly, things were written down and occasionally crossed out. In the end, it had become quite a productive day, much better than the boring hours that had passed before Imai’s arrival. It had all turned into a good day, until… Atsushi suddenly seemed to be bothered by something, it was clear in his facial expression.

“Are you okay?” Imai asked as he looked over to his friend.

“Um… yeah I’ll-” Atsushi tried to speak, but a sudden pain in his head silenced him as he covered his ears with his hands. Not only his head hurt, he also felt a painful sting in his ears, and besides that he heard the most obnoxious high tone which sounded like it came from nowhere, yet everywhere at the same time. Scrunching up his face as he tightly pressed his hands against his ears, Imai knew something was wrong.

Not knowing what else he could do, Imai immediately ran towards the stairway. “ISSAY!” he yelled as loud as he could to which he soon heard a door open and footsteps quickly descending the stairs.

“What happened?” Issay asked as he walked down the last steps.

“Something’s wrong with Acchan.”

Without any hesitation Issay walked over to Atsushi, who sat with his elbows onto the table and his head between his hands, still pressing onto his ears. His eyes were tightly shut, his lips parted, yet his teeth pressed against each other, he was obviously in pain.

“What happened?” Issay asked again as he put a hand on Atsushi’s shoulder, yet he gave no reaction.

“We were just working on those lyrics,” Imai then answered instead, “and suddenly… this happened.”

“I see. Stand up Acchan, let’s try to get you to the couch,” Issay said as he helped Atsushi to stand up. Yet as moving seemed to cause his head and ears to hurt even more, he growled as he let himself sink to the floor. Curling up with his head onto his knees.

Issay dropped down as well, massaging Atsushi’s back as he did not know what else to do. The soft, high pitched noises that came from Atsushi soon made it clear that he had started to cry. The pain must be unbearable, and the noise he must be hearing… 

“Issay!” Atsushi eventually managed to say, somewhat loud, “make this stop!”

“I…” Issay did not know what to say in reply, was there even anything he could do?

“Please!” Atsushi added, starting to beg, “please make this stop!”

“What is going on?” Imai then asked, just watching, confused as to what was happening.

“His ears, they’re developing, this is horrible timing.”

“Wow, that looks painful,” Hal suddenly commented, when did he even come down here? It seemed like no one had heard him come down, not even Issay despite the fact that he normally heard everything, he must have been too focused on Atsushi. Issay did not even look up, his eyes remained on Atsushi.

“Wow, are you okay?” Imai suddenly asked as he saw how Hal decided to lean against the wall with a piece of paper pressed against his shoulder, it had become quite red from the blood.

“Yeah… just a bit dizzy.”

“What are you even doing here anyway?!” Issay yelled, sounding frustrated as he finally looked up. “You should rest up, and besides that, what if that,” he continued, gesturing to the wound, “triggered him?!” he added, now pointing towards Atsushi.

“Right… didn’t think about that… but he seems unbothered,” Hal simply returned.

“You are a fucking idiot,” Issay then said as he stood up. He somewhat roughly picked Hal up in his arms and carried him over to the couch. Hal just let it happen as Issay already seemed to be quite angry, and the couch would be more comfortable than the wall anyway. As Hal was lain down onto the couch he quickly apologized to Issay.

Imai seemed to be quite uncomfortable as Atsushi was crying on the floor, Issay was angry, and Hal was still bleeding, how did that even happen anyway? A high noise that somewhat sounded like a scream, yet much more silent, suddenly escaped Atsushi’s mouth. “Please do something,” he softly said in that same tone, now sounding desperate.

This plea made Issay focus his attention back to Atsushi, yet as he now looked back into that direction, Imai could see those orange, glowing eyes of his. A sight that gave him a slight scare as his heart started to beat faster to it.

It was not the first time he saw it, Issay had shown it before as evidence that he really was a vampire, yet something seemed different about it now. Imai took a step back, staring at Issay with wide eyes. That reaction did not go unnoticed by Issay.

“What?” Issay asked as he looked back at Imai.

“Um… are you alright? Your eyes, um…” Imai started, speaking rather quietly.

“I’m just stressed,” Issay simply returned.

“ISSAY!” Atsushi yelled out before adding another soft plea.

“Imai-san, try to keep him calm, I might have an idea,” Issay then commented as he started to walk away, disappearing into the basement.

Unsure of what to do, Imai simply sat down next to his friend, wrapping his arms around him as he pressed Atsushi against his chest. Atsushi did not resist, he kept his hands against his ears as he rested against Imai, letting his legs drop onto the floor.

It took a few minutes before Issay finally returned, and once he did his eyes were simply black again and he was holding a syringe. Walking up to Imai and Atsushi, he sat down with them as he pulled on one of Atsushi’s arms, trying to get him to let go of one ear. Atsushi resisted the pulls as he did not want to let go, his arms were tightly shut into position, and Issay did not want to accidentally hurt him.

“Acchan, give me your arm, I’ll help you,” Issay said, trying to get him to work along.

As Atsushi opened his eyes and looked up, Issay could see that his eyes were glowing, just like his own did before. Imai too noticed the change in Atsushi’s eyes, it made his heart skip a beat once again, something about those eyes was so threatening.

As Atsushi let go of one ear, reaching his hand out to Issay, Imai tried to help by pressing his own hand against his friend’s ear, pressing his head back against his chest. In the meantime, Issay stuck the needle into Atsushi’s vein, pumping the liquid into his bloodstream.

Within only a few seconds Atsushi could feel his eyelids grow heavier. His arms grew tired and they simply dropped, he himself could not get out of Imai’s hold either, he was all that kept him from completely falling to the ground. The noises grew more distant and before he knew it, his eyes shut and he drifted off to sleep.

“What was that?” Imai asked Issay, looking up as he held his friend.

“A DIY sleeping medicine, family recipe, extremely effective and extremely quick.”

“I see, so you’re going to have him sleep through this? Won’t it just continue once he wakes up?”

“There is a chance it won’t be over indeed, but there is also the option that he will now sleep through the process, just like he did when his eyes changed.”

“That happened last night, right?”

“He told you about that?”

“Yeah… we just happened to talk about it.”

“Right…” Issay simply commented, wondering how many of the details Imai knew, wondering if he knew about… them. “Well it’s true, he woke up from a nightmare in the middle of the night and his eyes were glowing.”

“Ah I see, so that did not have the same effect as this huh?”

“Indeed, he slept through the painful part, he was lucky it happened at night. I hope he will now completely sleep through this as well.”

“Can’t you have him sleep through it all? He will go through more pain right? That’s what you said back then.”

“No, when his body changes it will be a longer process, it might take a few days. I can’t keep him in a coma, that would be too risky.”

“I see,” Imai returned as he brought his gaze back to the man who slept in his arms.

“I’ll take him from you,” Issay then said, they had been sitting on the floor like this for long enough now. Picking Atsushi up into his arms, he stood up and walked over to the couch, only to remember he had put Hal down right there.

“Need me to get up?” Hal asked, sounding somewhat odd.

“Are you feeling alright?” Issay returned, he had possibly neglected his friend for a bit too long.

“I might throw up.”

“You stay right there, don’t even dare to get up.”

“What even happened to you anyway?” Imai then asked, wondering about that wound. It must be quite big considering the amount of blood that piece of paper had consumed.

“Feeding time gone wrong is what happened,” Hal simply returned, an answer that left Imai even more confused.

“He was feeding me upstairs,” Issay clarified, “and when you yelled, I flinched and accidentally tore his skin apart with my teeth.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Imai apologized as he listened to the explanation.

“It’s not your fault, you couldn’t have known,” Issay simply returned. “But I should help out with that wound, uh…” he then added as he looked at the man in his arms. He walked over to the living room chair and put Atsushi down onto it, his legs over the armrest and his side against the backrest, slightly bent forward to keep him from falling, at least, that is what he hoped.

“Imai-san, make sure he doesn’t fall off that chair, I’ll be right back,” Issay then said as he made his way down to the basement once more, only to return with a first aid kit and some supplies merely a minute later.

“Hal, can you sit up?” Issay asked, quickly looking over at how Imai had decided to sit down onto the chair’s armrest and was using his own body as a backrest for Atsushi. This caused the unconscious man to not have to sit in a folded way, which was much better for him.

“I think I can,” Hal replied as he slowly sat up.

Issay then took a seat on top of his friend’s lap, facing him as he placed the first aid kit and other supplies down next to them. Issay slowly pulled the soaked, sticky piece of paper off of Hal, only to reveal the wound was quite deep, and quite big. As those two large holes were now uncovered, surrounded by drying blood, more of that red liquid immediately started to pour out again. 

“Fuck, I’m so sorry,” Issay spoke as he threw that dirty piece of paper onto the table behind him.

“It’s fine, you didn’t do it on purpose.”

Issay first cleaned the wounded area as much as he could with the fresh blood pouring out, it was at least not bleeding too heavily anymore. Opening the first aid kit, Issay then took out a small bottle of pure alcohol and opened it. “I’m going to disinfect it, it’s going to hurt a lot.”

Before Hal could even reply, Issay poured some of the alcohol onto the wound, immediately stopping it from leaking all over his friend with a clean piece of paper. Hal hissed in some sharp breaths as he felt that extreme burning sting in his shoulder, it caused him to let out some compressed groans as well. As a reflex he buried his fingers into Issay’s thighs, the first thing he could find. Hal’s grip was quite painful, yet Issay knew it was nothing compared to what he was doing to him.

Afterwards, Issay dipped the area dry before dumping that piece of paper onto the table as well. “Alright, so… this will need to be stitched.”

“Yeah, already thought so,” Hal just replied, finally able to breathe normally again as the pain slowly faded for now.

Issay took the required items and got them ready for use. Hal did not get much time to breathe before Issay started to stitch him up, however, the burning pain from the disinfecting had left the area somewhat numbed. Hal could still feel it, and it still hurt, but it was less bad than before and less bad than expected.

“Alright, that will do it. Wait here for a minute,” Issay eventually said as he stood up and took the blood soaked papers with him to the kitchen. Once he returned, he held nothing but a wet cloth. He used said cloth to clean the remaining blood off of Hal’s shoulder. He then also patched up the area with a large bandaid, just in case.

“Thanks,” Hal simply returned, yet he had grown somewhat pale in the meantime.

“You don’t look too good, you should lie back down,” Issay mentioned, concerned about the amount of blood his friend had just lost.

“No, you can’t leave Atsushi in that chair like that. Put him down on the couch, I'll be fine.”

“Hal, you look like a zombie, you clearly aren’t fine,” Issay said in reply, yet Hal did not react.

“I have a better idea,” Issay then added as he walked back into the kitchen to dispose of the cloth before he returned and picked Hal up into his arms again.

“What? Ok…” Hal just returned as he wrapped his arms around Issay’s neck as a reflex.

Without explaining, Issay carried Hal back upstairs and into his bedroom, laying him down in bed. “You can rest here, it may be good for you to take a nap anyway, you are as white as a ghost.”

“Hm, maybe, you might want to give me a bucket too.”

“I’ll get one,” Issay answered as he walked away, returning with a bucket containing a bit of water only a minute later. He placed the bucket next to the bed.

“I’ll be going back downstairs. Try to get some sleep.”

“I will, thanks.”

“Oh and, if you need me,” Issay then said, taking something out of his bedside table’s drawer, “use this.”

Hal looked over at the item Issay had just placed down on top of the nightstand, a small bell. “Why do you have a bell in your bedroom?”

“… Reasons.”

“you know what… forget I asked.”

“I will. Well, get some rest, I’m going back downstairs.”

“Alright,” Hal replied as he watched Issay leave.

As Issay descended the stairs and entered the living room, he noticed that Atsushi was already lying on the couch, most of his body covered underneath the blanket that usually lay on top of the backrest. Had Imai put him there? Of course he had, who else would have. Imai just sat on the chair Atsushi had been put in before, staring at his friend. Issay could tell he was worried. Issay sat down in the remaining living room chair, finally calming down from all the chaos.

“How long will he sleep?” Imai suddenly asked, not looking away from Atsushi.

“Likely a few hours,” Issay returned as he too looked over at the sleeping man. “Can I get you anything to drink? Or maybe eat?”

Imai looked over to Issay at this question, looking him into his eyes. “Should I leave?”

“No, stay as long as you like, I know you’re worried.”

“Is it ok for me to stay then? Considering the situation?”

Issay just shrugged, “it’s a weird situation, I didn’t expect anything to happen for today, but… well we have Atsushi who’s been put out with meds, Hal who’s wounded and probably asleep by now, and you, who is worried about his friend.”

“I’m fine, I have it least bad here right now.”

“You must not be feeling that great with a heart rate that high.”

“What?”

“I can hear it, everyone’s heartbeats.”

“Right… What is his like?” Imai just asked, referring to Atsushi.

“Calm… he is simply asleep. But are you sure you are feeling alright?”

“A bit dizzy, I guess I just… stressed a bit too much over what was happening.”

“Makes sense, it was very sudden after all. Let me know if you need anything, alright?”

“Yeah, thanks,” Imai returned with a smile. “And if you need any help with anything, I’m here anyway and I’m awake.”

Issay softly laughed at that comment, “I’ll remember that.”


	14. Calm Evening.

A slight shifting on the couch caught Issay’s attention. “Are you awake?”

“Hm?” was all he got for a reply as Atsushi slowly opened his eyes, looking at him.

“How are you feeling?”

The younger man slowly sat up, taking the blanket off of him, “I’m good… what happened?” he then asked as he saw Issay’s worried expression.

“What, you don’t remember?”

“Hm?” Atsushi just returned as he looked away and took a moment to think about it. “Oh! Right… my ears.”

“Yes, how is that going now?”

“It’s all good now, no pain, no annoying noise,” Atsushi answered, turning his head towards Issay again.

“Good, that’s good,” Issay responded, sounding relieved.

“What is that sound though?”

“That you heard earlier?”

“No, right now.”

“What do you hear?”

“Is it… a heartbeat? It’s kinda loud.”

“Is it me?” a voice suddenly asked from behind the couch.

“Imai?” Atsushi returned as he watched his friend take a seat in the empty living room chair. “You’re still here?”

“Yes, I wanted to know if you were alright.”

“Is that what you hear? Is it him?” Issay then interrupted, trying to get an answer to Imai’s previous question.

“Hm… I think so, probably,” Atsushi simply returned, it did sound like it came from his friend’s direction.

“Would make sense,” Issay just returned, “these things will be louder to you from now on.”

“Yeah, you already said this would happen,” Atsushi mentioned, sounding not all too happy about it as he looked away.

“What’s wrong?”

Atsushi hummed as he shook his head at Issay’s question, “nothing, just have to get used to it I guess.”

“Is it annoying?”

“A bit, yeah.”

“Do you want me to leave?” Imai then asked.

“No, it’s fine, I need to get used to it anyway,” Atsushi replied as footsteps suddenly sounded from the stairway. The three men in the living room all turned their head towards the stairs as Hal entered the room.

“Ah, you’re awake as well,” Issay spoke as Hal took a seat next to Atsushi on the couch, the only empty spot left. “How are you feeling now?”

“I’m feeling alright,” Hal returned as his stomach started to growl.

Issay let out a soft laugh at that sound, “hungry?”

“Apparently,” Hal returned as he noticed Atsushi looking at him, or rather, at his shoulder.

“What happened?” Atsushi then asked.

“That would be my fault,” Issay replied before Hal could even say anything. “I tore his skin open when I flinched.”

“Flinched?” Atsushi simply repeated questioningly.

“Yeah, when I yelled up the stairs,” Imai added, still feeling somewhat guilty about it.

“Oh, are you alright then?” Atsushi then asked Hal.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

“But… it’ll probably leave a scar,” Issay now mentioned.

Hal frowned before just simply shrugging, “well, there is not much that can be done about that now.”

“Yeah, that is true,” Issay returned, he hated the fact that his friend would have quite a big scar because of him, but nothing could be changed about it now. “So, it is actually getting a bit late now, and none of us have eaten yet.”

“Yeah, I’m hungry,” Hal said in reply, his stomach had already proven that point earlier.

“I am too, actually,” Atsushi mentioned as Imai stayed quiet, yet nodded in reply, a sign that he too would like to eat something right now.

“Right… I haven’t prepared anything in this chaos though, I don’t even know if I have enough for all of us.”

“Why don’t you just order something then?” Hal asked, “saves some time and then you don’t have to bother with anything.”

“I’d rather not have strangers near my house at these times,” Issay said in reply, the risk of something to happen was low, yet it existed nonetheless.

“You can go pick it up as well,” Hal then mentioned.

“I know I can, but I am not leaving the house, you know that.”

“Hm… I can go pick it up instead?”

“No not with your shoulder, it’s best for you to take it easy for a while, to not carry too much.”

“Then I can go pick it up,” Imai now suddenly interrupted, causing all eyes to focus on him. “Then there is no problem right, if I pick it up?”

“Yeah, that would work,” Issay returned to that, Imai was the only one who could do that right now.

“Alright, if you call then I’ll pick it up.”

“Deal, what do you all want to eat, then?” Issay asked as he stood up, making his way towards the phone.

\--

After Issay had ordered and Imai had picked up the food, the four of them ate at the dining table. Issay and Atsushi sitting next to each other, Imai across from Atsushi, and Hal sitting next to Imai. The atmosphere was somewhat odd due to what had been going on today, and this caused them to be surprisingly quiet this evening.

The silence, however, soon became more than uncomfortable. “So, what have you guys been doing today? Before you came here,” Atsushi decided to ask.

“Not much, really,” Imai simply responded, “we did meet up at the studio earlier, but we haven’t really done much work.”

“I haven’t really done much either, just bought some groceries, did some cleaning, watched some TV,” Hal added as his own reply.

“Sounds like everyone’s day was just as boring,” Issay commented to that, taking a bite of his food.

“Well, guess I made it somewhat more interesting at least,” Atsushi then mentioned with a quick laugh.

“That you did,” Imai responded, yet no one laughed along.

“I’m sorry,” Atsushi suddenly apologized as he continued eating.

“For what?” Imai just asked in return, the other two men confused as well.

“Today… it really wasn’t good timing huh?”

“Acchan that is not your fault, you can’t decide when these things happen,” Issay commented, feeling somewhat heartbroken at Atsushi’s guilty expression.

“I know that, but-”

“No,” Issay interrupted before Atsushi could even finish that sentence, “no buts and no apologizing, there is nothing you could have done and there is also no way you could have known it would happen.”

“Yeah I know.”

“Good, then get that frown off of your face,” Issay said next, smiling at the younger man as they made eye contact. Atsushi showed a small smile as well in return. After that, the atmosphere in the room grew a bit lighter, the tension somewhat disappeared as everyone continued to eat, able to finally come up with some conversation topics.

“I didn’t bring anything, but I’ll pay you back for this next time we meet,” Hal suddenly said to Issay after a few minutes of random chatter, referring to the food.

“Same, I’m sure I’ll visit again eventually,” Imai added to that, yet Issay was already shaking his head.

“No need for that, I won’t go bankrupt from treating my friends occasionally.”

“Are you sure about that?” Hal asked, “This was quite expensive since it was for four people.”

“I can easily pay for it, so don’t worry.”

“Hm, if you say so,” Hal simply commented to that before continuing with the casual conversations.

Despite the odd event of today, this very moment felt right to them all, as if everything was alright, as if it was just another normal day in the end. Yet, in the back of their minds, they all knew better of course.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry that this boring chapter is all I have to give after such a long wait.  
> I'm just slightly stuck with it and, at the moment, I also have some things to think about, causing me to have less time to write.  
> But don't worry, I still won't abandon this work, it may just take a while before we reach the end of it.


End file.
